Full text of "Electronic Games - Volume 02 Number 11 (1984-01)(Reese Communications)(US)"

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3 GflfTlES FOR ATRRI COfTlPUTGRS

Computer Games- Videogames -Stand- Alone Games Arcades

Visit our little island
if you dare.

Yes, there is hidden treasure here. But there is also
unspeakable terror. Listen! A voice within you is
whispering that your life is in danger.

Can you turn the clues you
will find on this forbidding Carib-
bean island into the tools you
need to grab the treasure and get
away alive?

Death In The Caribbean is a
game for the brain. All you have is
your wits and the treasure map
we supply.

It will take all the courage
you can muster to cross the bot-
tomless cravasse. Get through the
quicksand. Avoid the man-eating

Death In The Caribbean— the exotic new island
treasure hunt with high-res color graphics

ants. Conquer the crocodile-infested swamp. Escape

the deadly voodoo cave, menacing pirate ghosts, and

all the other lethal traps and pitfalls that stand

between you and fabulous wealth.

jmm So visit our little island if

I you dare. But heed this warning. If

~-^-A»*^'~f iHi y° u seek ar, d fail - y° u mav De

iP j [dl *ivt doomed to play the game forever!

U*:'

micro Fun

1 Can you save the Doomed Dinos
and escape the Dino Mom's stomp?

Warped into a prehistoric world you've con-
taminated the dinosaurs. You must climb nine
deadly cliffs, find the dtno eggs and carry them
back to the 21st century.

Dodge the radioactive
snakes and spiders when
you climb, leap and jump
over the challenging cliffs
to iocate the eggs. As you
fight your way up the nine
levels your skills must
increase if you are to
survive the deadly

IfflTffll

. . . the fun goes on forever

MitfoFy n " and Dino Eggs '" are registered trademarks oi MicroLab, Inc.
ApplB II & lie, IBM PC. Atari BOO. Commadore 64 and ColecoVision are
registered trademarks oi Apple Computer, Inc.. ISM Corp.. Atari, Inc.,
Commodore Electronrcs. Ltd., and Coleco-lndusiries, Inc., respectively.
E 1983 MicroLab, Inc.

2699 Skokie Valley Road, Highland Park, IL 60035 312/433-75S0

Fire is the only weapon you have to keep the Dino
Mom from putting her foot down and crushing YOU!

Can you escape the Dino Mom's
stomp, avoid the crawling, clawing
creatures, find the eggs and save
the dinosaurs from extinction? Only
you can face the challenges of
survival in the prehistoric time warp
of DINO EGGS'" from MicroFun. Inc.
...the fun goes on forever.

Available for:
Apple II "& lie-
Atari 800"
IBMPC"
ColecoVision"
Commodore 64"

CONTENTS

Commodore Sof tware-
The Best Game in Town.

VryiprdHTT 1

. . .Take on the world, toughen up your trigger finger and fire away. .

Commodore is the best computer
value in town . . .at home, at school
and at work . . . with our exciting,
easy to use. inexpensive VIC 20 and
C64 computers.

We re fast becoming the best game
in town when it comes to entertainment
for the whole family. . . and at afford-
able prices

THE BEST ARCADE IN TOWN
can be in your own home with our
exciting, faithful reproductions of the

best of Bally Midway arcade games.
Our Kickman, (which just received
a coveted "Electronic Games"
award for an arcade translation)
lets you steer the unicycle to catch
the falling objects, as they fall quicker
and quicker! 1

Gorf, Lazarian, and Omega Race
give you the best in classic space
action against the one-eyed ieviathon.
the drotds or the evil Empire.

In The Wizard Of Woryou attempt

to defeat the Wizard and the Warriors,
fighting your way through to the end.
With the new Commodore "MAGIC
VOICE ... It talks back to you too! '

You commandeer the fleet at sea with
our version of Seawolf.and become the
master tactician as you battle "it out"
with enemy fleet-
Clowns and Blueprint round out
our arcade entertainment package to
keep your fingers nimble and your

COMPUTERS

First In Quality Software

See your local dealer now . . . He's got the best game in town , . . |ust for you.

It's Crystal Ball Time!

It took me nearly an hour
to hunt up my crystal ball.
The swami turban and video
tarot cards were a snap to
find by comparison. I just
couldn't recall where I'd put
the orb after writing my pre-
dictions in last January's in-
stallment of "Switch On!"

I finally found the ball
tucked away in a carton full
of cartridges from Games by
Apollo. Now, it's temporarily
set up on my desk and ready
to do its stuff.

But first, it only seems fair
to see how I did last year. My
guess that manufacturers
would sell eight million
videogame systems and 80
million cartridges proved
slightly conservative, but not
that bad. My estimate that
computer ownership would
double in 1983 also turned
out to be short of the mark
(tripled would be closer). I
was right about games com-
ing to players over the
phone and about at least
two systems biting the dust
(Fairchild and Astrocade),
but I apparently jumped the
gun when it came to the
appearance of the first full-
time pro arcader. Maybe
next year. Equally erroneous
was my guess that hand-
held programmables would

By ARNIE KATZ

make their debut in 1983.
That's another good predic-
tion for 1984, probably.
Thatduty discharged, let's
move on to my prognostica-
tions for 1984. . .

•Manufacturers will sell
more than 100 million
videogame cartridges,
but hardware will prob-
ably move out of the
stores slightly slower
than in 1983, perhaps
eight million video-
game systems.
'Home computer sales,
spurred by price cuts,

will exceed 10 million
units.

'By the end of the year,
there will only be two
videogame systems in
active production as
gamers flock to com-
puters for their home
arcadmg.

'Though stand-alones
will be less numerous
thart a couple of years
ago, the technology will
continue to improve.
This year should see the
first stand-alone featur-
ng ts own miniature
raster-screen.
"Laser-disc games, now
starting to hit it big in
com-op game parlors,
will reach the home
market from at least
three different manu-
facturers. At least one
firm will offer games
that are true hybrids
of computer and video-
disc technology.
*The most popular genre
of action games in 1984
will be the color-chang-
ing contests such as
CTBert
And I would like to close
with one final prediction: a
year of health and happi -
ness for all EG readers.
Happy New Year! G

Adverting Director

, t Mi a ji a , * m

. -- V #

ATARI 600XL

EVERTONE

HASTHEIROWN SYSTEM FOR

PLAYING POPEYEI

Atari.® Intellivision* ColecoVision." T.I.™ Now you can play
t POPEYE, one of the most fun and challenging arcade games yet,
XI on any one of them. Run through three screens of non-stop action, sSwKwii
r where you try to capture Olive Oyl's heart while avoiding untold
/ dangers, including Brutus and the Sea Hag.
Run down to your local store for Popeye today
And while you're there, check out TUTANKHAM,'"
FROGGER,'" Q*bert™ and SUPER COBRA," x^clidwcd i
also from Parker Brothers' Arcade Action Series.

JtOTUNS,

PILOT THE VIDEO SPACE SHUTTLE

By now, the only people
who believe the Atari 2600 is
a toy are those who haven't
seen Activision's Space Shut-
tle: A Journey into Space. Re
leased last November, Space
Shuttle is the most innovative

VCS. While the gamer pilots a
shuttle from launch — through
docking maneuvers — to land-
ing, he must check various
readings and make adjust-
ments with the VCS's toggle
switches.

Designer Steve Kitchen,
who researched the real shut-
tle with NASA's help, repro-
grammed the console
becomes a flight co
panel. {For example, the righl
difficulty switch opens
closes cargo bay doors and
lowers landing gear,) Kitchen
also included a demo mode, a
training flight and a mission
flight, as well as some out-
standmgaudio/visual effects.

Move over NASA, here
come the Activision astro-

71 99/4A

MARKETS

"GAMEPORT"

Owners of the Texas In-
struments' 99/4A will be
pleased to learn that the
Romox "GamePort" accepts
all ROM cartridges, according
to Romox Prexy, Paul Terrell.

It announced earlier this
year that it would modify its
computer to accept only
those cartridges programmed
in Tl's patented "GROM" for-
mat. This limits third-party

software manufacturers from
producing games unless they
license their product toTI, and
means users can't play any
"non-GROM" titles.

According to Terrell, the
"GamePort" offers interested
parties an alternative. By
plugging the new device into
the computer port and acces-
sing the 9900 CPU directly, it
can play any standard ROM

Check your local retail out-
lets for this one folks.

Padre Steve Carvey getting ready to hit one out of the park.

PADRES ARE TRAINING
WITH GAMES

Thanks to Sega's Cham-
pion Baseball, The San Diego
Padres are sharpening up
their batting averages. By
playing electronic games such
at this, the ball-
players c

The San Diego-based coin-
op manufacturer donated a
number of the coin-op
machines to the Pad
clubhouse, where the guys
immediately began
hitting them hot
and heavy
No one knows the
advantages of such

thing is certain:

pensuin software

the graphics people

The Next Generation Is Here!

At Penguin, we

don't rely on the same old

game formulas, adding to the mish-mash

of look-alike games already on the market. We look

for creativity, originality, and innovation. Games like

Minit Man, challenging you with two types of arcade action

simultaneously; Coveted Mirror, an adventure with animation and

arcade games throughout; The Spy Strikes Back, an arcade game with

strategy and a touch of adventure; Pensate and Tactic 9, games that make

you think; and Expedition Amazon, an intriguing and humorous fantasy game.

And Each Is Only $19.95! More Fun For Your Money From Penguin Software

Write for a free catalog
JO Fourth Avenue, Box 311 Dept. M Geneva. IL 60134 For information - Call (312) 232-1984 Dealer orders only - Call (800) 323-0116

COMPUTERIZED
LIMOS!

Air Brook Limousine Ser-
vice, in our nation's capital,
now offers "computa-cars"
— limos that come equipped
with a computer and word
processor!

Execs can use the equip-
ment to call up Congressional
voting records, legislative his-
tories, biographies of various
Congressmen, and any other
vital data they need.

Air Brook even calls up res-
taurants, grouped according
to price and culinary type.

COMPUTERS
TEACH TOTS

Early reports indicate that
kids who play an educational
game on computers test sig-
nificantly higher than other
children from the same age
group who receive no com-
puter experience

The test included 20
youngsters who were divided

BOOKS FOR

into two groups. Where both
groups took pre- and post-
tests, the control group had
no exposure at all to com-
puters. The other group spent
10 one-hour sessions with the
computer. At the end of this
one-month experiment, the
findings showed that the chil-
dren who played on comput-
ers scored a total of 47 per-
cent higher on a battery of
standardized tests.

The experiment was hosted
by Program Design, Incorpor-
ated, manufacturer of such
popular arcade games as
Moonbase lo and Clipper:
Around the Horn in 1850.

Sir-Tech's Wizardry s<

SIR-TECH DISPLAYS HIGH-RES

Sir Tech Software has pro-
duced a brand new high-
resolution display manager
for the Apple II. and will test it
in the marketplace in the third ,
gam* of the Wizardry series.

The latest adventure is Leg-
acy of Llylgamyn, the third
scenario in the Wizardry fan-
tasy 'Oie-playing program,
wrtten py Andrew Greenberg

and Robert Woodhead.

It continues the storyline
through the use of a new
graphic technique called
"Windo-Wizardry". It allows
programmers to manipulate
rectangular windows of any
size, which sometimes over-
lap to enable more informa-
tion to be put on-screen at the

Softsync and Brady Books
(a division of Prentice-Hall)
have published a book of
computer games exclusively
targeted for owners of the
Timex 1000, 1500 and 2000
computer systems.

"Brain Games", by Cana-
dian professor John Stephen-
son, contains 26 different
program listings. Each comes
with a mind game as well as a
few helpful shortcuts to assist
younger programmers in de-
signing their own fun as they
learn mathematics and logic
through games!

Dr. Stephenson explains,
"For 20 years, I have been
teaching mathematics. I be-
lieve it is possible to teach
math and logic through the
use of games. This also makes
it a lot of fun for everyone."

"Brain Games" retails for
$9.95 and can be found in
most local bookstores. Soft-
sync, in addition, also plans
versions of the book for the
VIC-20 and Commodore 64.

Besides the upright model, Sega also make< a cockpit version of Star Trek.

PBS RAISES CASH WITH COIN-OP

Sega Electronics generously
donated a Star Trek coin-
operated videogame to the
Public Broadcasting System,
located in San Diego, for their
annual fund-raising auction.

Every year, PBS holds an
auction to generate the
necessary monies used to

maintain equipment and
staff, and to purchase pro-
gramming.

Telecast over several eve-
nings, the auction features
hundreds of items or services
donated by viewers who
strongly want to do their part
to keep PBS alive.

AUCTION

"We feel proud to help
support the outstanding job
KPBS is doing for the San
Diego area," said Sega's chief
operating officer, Frank
Fogelman. He also went on to
say that Sega expects to par-
ticipate in next year's upcom-
ing auction as well.

^s*'

' M \.

Family Software, all 3 games
2/aibble in finer computer St.
everywhere. Or call toll-free
2-800-852 5000. Dept AC-17

itdty™
. joock down buildings to your
wrecker while dodging bricks,
rocks, cans and tomatoes. 10
rounds. Poster, stickers, user's
manual vinyl binder Included.
Ages 8 and up. Only $39 95

Oldlr

Thrilling 2 player naval battle)
Use the wind, cannons compass
to outwit rival ship. Detallecf
graphics recreate true sailing ex-
perience. Poster, log book, vinyl
binder Included. Ages 8 and up.
Only $3995.

The days of yore are recalled in
this unique combination of board-
game and computer game Rescue
the king by playing 20 animated
games of skill — (ousting, sword-
play, etc 1 to 4 players. Sturdy,
colorful gameboard playing

"Make note of that name, Electronic Arts.

It may well set the standard for sophisticated

entertainment software in the 80s."

—Creative Computing.

ELECTRONIC ARTS

COMES TO
THE COMMODORE.

ARCHON™

by Free Fall Associates

No review could possiblv do

than hint at the mar,:?. J
excellence of Archon. It is
truly a landmark in the devel-
opment of computerized
strategy games." -Video
". . .you're bound to fall for it.

Imagineachessga

you can cast spells.

—Creative Computing

".. theofficesofA.N.A.L.O.G.
echo with the searing roar of
dragon-fire and shouted
obscenities from angry players.
Archon turns friend against
friend and inspires grudges that
can last for days. What better
compliment can you give to a

-A.NA.LO.G.

***

M.UL.E,

fry Ozark Sofscapc
"A must-have."

— Electronic Fun
"May well become the Monopoly
of computer games."

— Personal Soli'.v.in
"Graphics, sound and humor

-Creative Computing

"Recommendation? Buy it."

— Softline

MURDER ON THE
ZINDERNEUF 1 "

by Free Fall Associates
"Whodunit fans, drop your
Agatha Christie and come
running.This is your game! The
graphics are among the most
colorful and attractive I have
seen in any game." — Antic

PINBALL *^

CONSTRUCTION SET

"The besr program ev
for an 8-bit machine.'

-Steve Worn iak
"A fully integrated
graphics-oriented
design tool that lets
you create your own
video pinball games,
required study for all
software authors."

-A.N.A.LO.G.
"A tour de force."

—Creative Computing

Electronic Arts

Home Software for the Commodore 64

mlTHETKSSI-.HACT ST

If you've been putting a lot
of time in on your disk drive,
you just may be able to give it
a good spring cleaning — no
matter what the season!

"Headmaster", by SSK En-
terprises, effectively cleans
the read/write head(s) of
floppy disk drives, as well as
packaging two disks good for
up to 16 cleanings each, with
all the necessary fluid.

SSK thinks that periodic use
of the "Headmaster" redi

s while protecting

ATARI GOES
CLUB MED

First we had kids learning
computers at computer
camps; now adult vacationers
can do the same at the Club
Med facility in Punta Cana,
Dominican Republic. Visitors
are getting hands-on experi-
ence with one of the 57 Atari
computers in its workshop.
You may even forget about all
the "other." vacation activities
such as surfing, water skiing,
eating, etc.

Computers at the fun spot
can help revelers locate a ten-
nis partner, list special daily
events, or work as message
centers for vacationers at the
resort.

DATASOFT'S

READY TO ROLL

'EM OUT

DataSoft is releasing Dallas
Quest under licen
Lorimar Productions (creators
of the popular TV series). In

TIGER BUYS

Tigervrsion has just inked a
deal to license four of the very
latest top Japanese coin -ops
from Orca. the Tokyo play-
for-pay innovators.

Home editions of the
games, expected to hit Amer-
ican arcades by mid-1984, in-
clude Espial, Japan's 6th
ranked game in recent sur-
veys. This one's been de-
scribed as a state-of-the-art
high resolution graphics space
attack game, in which the
arcader must destroy a scroll-
ing spy space station.

Other favorites include Sky
Lancer, a futuristic space bat-
tle, and Super Crush, which
places the gamer in an auto

demolition derby. The ulti-
mate maze game is Changes,
featuring multiple patterns
and pretty graphics combined
with scrolling action.

The gamey Illinois firm
holds worldwide rights on
these titles for home
videogames, computer
games and stand-alone elec-
tronic games.

Tigervision is the software
firm that brought such games
as Miner 2049er, Polaris,
Springer, and River Patrol
to the videogame screen.

If the Japanese coin-ops
are anything as good as those
then 1984 is certain to be
a good year.

■WHAT'S HOT-

Look, up in the sky! It's a
bird, it's a plane, it's.. .a Zep-
pelin? Yes, it is. The closest
most folks come to an airship
in real life is a glimpse of the
Goodyear blimp, but those
grand gasbags are starring in
three hot new games for

various computer systems.

Zeppelin {Synapse Soft-
ware) is here to entertain Atari
owners, Zeppelin Rescue
(Computer Software Associ-
ates) gives Commodore
64'ers the chance to save Los
Angeles, and Murder on the

Zinderneuf (Infocom) chal-
lenges all computerists to
catch a killer aboard a luxury
dirigible.

We haven't seen this many
balloons on a videogame
screen since Circus Atari. Or
was it F Troop?

fW^{V|l

^K. fl

" : *"^J

?_ **'..* Ml""". 3 """

this one, gamers must out-
smart the villainousJ.R. Ewing
in a search for a lost map that
leads to a jungle oil field.

The "really scary" portions
of the game come from the
savage environs, as well as
from the notoriously bad J.R.,
who, as you may have already
guessed, is busy wheeling and
dealing as he tries to jeopar-
dize the mission.

DataSoft's other home
game offering, Pooyan, is
based on the original Konami
coin-op version. Gamers will
find wolves clinging to hot-air
balloons, traveling over a
forest. Just use the bow-and-
arrow to burst their bubbles,
and don't forget to protect
the little piggies wandering
through the forest.

Dallas Quest and Pooyan
are available through Radio
Shack for the Atari, Apple and
Commodore computers.

BY RADIO

"The Screen Fiend" is a

syndicated radio show exclu-
sively tailored to the vid-
eogaming community. Au-
dio Inventions (P.O. Box 240,
Mt. Ephraim, NJ 08059) will
provide a qualified radio sta-
tion with five 60-second
shows free of charge.

Each show incorporates the
latest news and views about
the industry's most recent
games, home video systems,
accessories and newly-

That's Zeppelin Rescue on the left, and Murder on the Zinderneuf on the right.

TTieENDo/DINKETY-
DINKDINK.

announcing
the. first computer
music program that
actually sounds like

music.

LET'S FACE IT. Up till now, music
programs for your home computer
have all sounded, well, pretty lame.
There were the ones that resembled
little electronic music boxes, remem-
ber? And then there were those that
sounded like so many burps.

Enter Music Construction Set. It's
the first music program that really
makes use of the power of that ma-
chine you've got. If you're a serious
student, this means you'll be able to
work with an intricacy and range of
sound quality you've never heard be-
fore on a computer. And if you know
nothing about music, you'll find some-
thing even more important. Namely,
that this thing is simple enough to
be a lot of fun.

Take a good look at this screen
because it, you, and a joystick are the
whole story here.

That's you at the right end of the
staff ot notes — the little hand. Move
the joystick, and you move the hand.
Use it to carry notes up to the staff.
Lay in rests, signatures, clefs, then point

to the little piano in the lower right
arid listen, because you'll hear the
whole thing played back.

Move those little scales in the mid-
dle up and down to vary the music's
speed, sound quality, and volume. Use

the scissors to cutout whole measures,
then use the glue pot to paste them
in somewhere else. Got a printer?
Great. Print the score out and show it
off to your friends.

But what if you're not up to writing
your own stuff yet? No problem.
There are twelve pieces of music al-
ready in here, from rock 'n roll to
baroque. They 're fun to listen to, and
even more fun to change. (Apologies
to Mozart.)

The point is, the possibilities are
endless. But if you're still skeptical,
visit your nearest Electronic Arts dealer
and do the one thing guaranteed to
send you home with a Music Con-
struction Set in tow.

Boot one up. Point to the piano.
And listen.

ELECTRONIC ARTS

BELIEVE IT

OR NOT, IT'S

A CAME!

Roklan Corporation and Ri-
pley's International have
agreed to enter into a joint
venture to create video and
computer games based upon
the "Ripley's Believe It Or
Not" series.

Marketing at Roklan, the
games "will tie in with the
Ripley's cartoon characters
and will be an extension of
the popular ABC television

Editions of "Believe It Or
Not" for the Atari VCS, Intelli-
vision, and ColecoVision are
already underway, while
computer versions for the
Atari, Commodore 64 and
Apple computers aren't too
far behind. They should
be here this winter.

"POWER PLAY'S"
A WINNER OF
AN ARCADE

We all know that Jay
Simon's fantastic Power Play
Arcade, located just a few
minutes from Disney World,
has lots of little extras to keep
gamers coming back for more
and more. But that's not all. . .

This natural showman also
has other talents, video-re-
lated of course, including
having a laser/holography
expert fly a 3-D red, white and
blue Phoenix down a highway
and then onto his parking lot.

Jay Simon is best-known
for staging some pretty wild
and exciting events in his Flor-
ida game palace. Just to give |
you a little taste of Jay's kind
of fun, you can expect, on any
given night, to get flooded by
a smoke machine that fills the
game room. For Halloween,
Jay had a gigantic Flash Gor-
don-style spaceship land
smack in the center of his
arcade, complete with a laser
light show and a special cos-
tume party, in which every-
one got to wear their fave ,
game-playing attire.

Ready for some more? Jay
has even brought costumed
videogame characters to visit
the children's wards in hospi-
tals and then to the local
schools to brief the kids on
this incredibly surging tech-
nology.

MmtMm

SOFTWARE BERT

SoftSync's Dancing Feats,

designed by Christopher
Chance, turns Atari and Com-
modore 64 computers into
music synthesizers. Joystick
jockeys sound like virtuosos

| base against hordes of alien
bandits trying to steal the
goodies...

Coleco plans a super ver-
I sion of War Games (based 01

DANCING FEATS (SOFTSYNO

when they create melodies
and on-screen light displays
using the program's selection
of bass, beats, styles and
rhythms. While you play, the
notes and chords are display-
ed on the bottom of the

DANCING FEATS (SOFTSYNC)

screen, and the program also
lets you record and playback
your compositions...

Bandits, the shoot-em-up

from Sirius Software, is now
available for the Commodore
64 in addition to the Apple,
Atari and VIC-20 computers.
Players guard a lunar supply

the MCM/UA movie by the
same name) for the Adam
computer, later this year...

Epyx has released a home
version of the Exidy hit educa-
tional game. Fax, for play on
the Apple or Commodore 64
computers, Fax is a video quiz
with about 900 questions in
each of four categories:
sports, trivia, history and en-
tertainment, with three levels
of difficulty. Gamers gain
additional points for quick
answers to questions that are
enhanced by clever graphics,
and wrong answers get
humorous warnings from the
computer, such as "Put your
mind in gear" and "Do your
homework!"..,

Randamn, from Magnum
Software, turns your Apple
into a mystic slot machine, but
with a payoff you won't find
in Las Vegas. When the spin-

I ning stops, it selects an oppo-
nent for you to defeat. At
stage one of the game, there's
only one baddie to overcome.
, but at stage seven, there are
I seven. And, since everything
in this game is random, the
j villains might be all alike, all
different, or any combination,
I so the gamer's strategies have
! to keep changing to match
, the results of each spin of the
slot machine. Survive all seven

RANDAMN (MAGNUM)

stages, which range from
Stonehenge, to outerspace,
or even the Satan's domain,
and the player becomes the
Demi-god Randamn, lord of
random events...

RANDAMN (MAGNUM)

Infocom's Enchanter is the
first game in a new series of
fantasies that guide players
through a world of magical
powers. Authors Marc Blank
and Dave Lebling (who pre-
viously wrote the Zork titles
forlnfocom) designed a world
that's under the thumb of an
evil warlock who has to be
banished, in a text adventure
that takes gamers through an
abandoned castle filled with
magic. Enchanter is available
for all computer systems, and
features an important new
element in adventures, the
passing of time. Players have
to eat, drink and sleep in the
enchanted world or they'll
lose their powers, just like
gamers in the real world...

The Sirius adventure hit,
Blade of Blackpoole, is now
available for the Commodore
64, in addition to the Apple
and Atari computers. This
single-player adventure
makes gamers solve puzzles
as they fry to locate objects.

Software artists?

TO MAKE THE FIRST BASKET-
BALL PROGRAM that feels like the
real thing, it helps to start with two guys
who know what the real thin" Uvl> like

Enter Larry Bird and Julius Erving.
Bird — the hustler, the strong man,
deadly from outside. Erving —The
Doctor, maybe the most explosive
player in the history of the game.

We talked to them, photographed
them in action, studied their moves and
their stats and their styles. Then we
set out to create on computer disc an
event which may never happen in real
life. We put the rwo of them together
on a dream court ot light, for an elec-
tronic afternoon of one-on-one.

It wasn't easy. When
they talked, we listened.
When they criticized,
we made big changes.
When they gave sug-
gestions, we took them.

And it shows. This
thing is absolutely un-
canny. You actually
take on all the skills and
characteristics of Bin
or The Doctor -their
own particular moves,
shooting abili
strength and speed.

You'll meet with
fatigue factors, hot and
cold streaks, turn-
around jump shots,
and 360-degree slam
dunks. But there's some whimsy in
here, too— a funny referee, a shattering
) ickboard, even instant replay.

It's called Julius Erving and Larry Bird
Go One- on- One." You're Bird. Or you're
The Doctor. And that's the last deci-
sion you'll have plenty of time to make.

How we got this year's hottest sports game out of
two rather inexperienced designers.

SPECTRA VIDEO

PICKS

SPOKESMAN

World-famous TV/film
star, Roger Moore (more
popularly known as James
Bond, 007), has inked a deal
with SpectraVideo, Incorpor-
ated.

Moore will be appearing for
the corporation in its ad-cam-
paigns as spokesman for the
firm's line, as well as making a
number of personal appear-
ances on behalf of the manu-
facturer.

Mr. Moore, who was
brought to the public's eye by
his role as Simon Templer in
"The Saint" on TV, hasn't
really done any actual espio-
nage work for SpectraVideo,
but he should be popping up
on the tube when you least

EX-EMPLOYEES
SUE ATARI

Atari was slapped with a
class-action suit by two of its

I former employees, charging

| the firm didn't give proper
advance notice when laying

I off over 600 workers last
February.

According to the protes-
ters, Atari continued to prom-
ise its staff that their jobs were

I secure. Contradictorily, the
firm supposedly told the
National Labor Relations
Board that plans to move
manufacturing operations to
the Far East began as early as
1981.

The current suit seeks dam-
ages totally $3.6 million in
back pay for all the ex-Atari-
employees who are still un-
employed, as well as $10 mil-
lion in punitive damages.

Coleco has entered into a
joint venture with American
Telephone and Telegraph, to
develop a $1 00 modem so the
Adam can communicate with
other computers over tele-
phone wires. The modem will
also permit videogames and
other software to be down-
loaded by phone into a variety
of home computer or
videogame systems. Other
projects on the Coleco draw-
ing board include an expan-
sion unit to boost the resident
80,000 character memory of
the Adam by 64,000 charac-
ters. The company has also
announced plans to market
an Adam-compatible video-
disc machine to go with the
home version of Dragon's
Lair, and other laserdisc coin-

-HARDWARE BEAT-

CoiecoVision owners can
get a kick from the Amiga
Joyboard The foot-controller
was previously available only
for the Atari 2600 and home
computers...

Now even teeny-tiny bat-
teries can be recharged. CE
just introduced their AAA
rechargeable battery for use
in the new slim-line electronic
products that take this size
batteries. They'll sell for $7.99
a pair, or $9.99 for a pair of
batteries with the recharging
module...

Fluctuating power has your
computer in a tizzy? Maybe

what you need is The
HAWK, an AC power
monitor and protector
that protects electronic
devices from voltage
surges while filtering
out electronic
noises. The
device, manu-
factured by Elec
tronic Protection
Devices, Inc., plugs
into any wall outlet, then
monitors and corrects line
fluctuations, giving an audible
alarm if a 1 5% power surge or
sag occurs. It sells for $195,
and comes with a Lloyds of
London insurance policy that
guarantees the product's per-
formance...

ROMSCANNER (MARJAO

fridges off the floor, and orga-
nized for a better play session I
The RomScanner holds 10
cartridges, then lets the gam-
er switch from one to another
just by pushing a button. An
Atari 2600 fits right in the
machine with the ten games,
doing away with the clutter of
carts on the floor. The manu-
facturer, MarJac Technology,
Glendale, Wise, promises
similar devices to be intro-
duced soon for other
videogame and computer

The world's smallest pro-
grammable videogame is the
Palmtex Portable Videogame
System, a pocket-sized giant
that uses plug-in game car-
tridges that operate on a color
graphic-enhanced Liquid
■Crystal Display mini-screen.

Games are to be released at
the rate of two per month.

These instructions
could save your life.

_SD\RTR<EK_

Read this page very carefully before you play Star Trek Strategic Operations
Simulator, the home video game thafs so fast, so challenging, it comes with
its own Combat Control Pane).

This is Star Trek as you've never played it before. Born in the arcade.
Tested under fire. Then made even better. More challenging.

You fight Klingons and alien saucers throughout the galaxy. Maneuver
through fields of space mines. And confront the ultimate enemy, Nomad.
An enemy so powerful you'll need full phasers, warp speed and your
Combat Control Panel to defeat him.

Star Trek. With the exclusive Star Trek Combat Control Panel.
Don't leave Earth without it.

_§Ii4

The Arcade Winners.

IBM 'PEANUT'
DEBUTS!

By now, the once-secret

IBM "Peanut" should be out
from under wraps. The new
machine will retail for approx-
imately $700, including the
console and disk drive. A fully
integrated system that comes
equipped with a printer will
sell for around $1300.

The "Peanut" consists of a
console with built-in disk
drive and keyboard, as well as
a cartridge slot for software
programs. Operable with
either a monitor or TV, the
"Peanut" will supposedly be
able to run software designed
for the IBM -PC computer.

Best of all, "Peanut" sports
increased graphics and im-
proved color capacity that
should make all computer
gamers happy!

let's
already, IBM!

ak it <

COMPUTER

WEEKEND

HITS CHICAGO!

Over 1,000 computerists,
ranging from tots to over the
the hillers, gathered to see de-
mos, hear speeches and look
at exhibits which stressed the
entertainment and educa-
tional aspects of home com-
puting, at the Chicago Hyatt
Regency Woodfield Hotel.

Arnie Katz, editor of Elec-
tronic Games magazine, and
Joyce Worley, editor of
EG Hotline, were two of
the major speakers at the
fun-filled "Computer
Weekend" extravanganza.

"All electronic games are
educational to some degree,"
asserted Joyce Worley in her
talk on the gaming industry.
She also went on to explain
that the mind and body chal-
lenges, posed by even the
most straightforward shoot-
ing game, teach the gamer
habits of the mind which
progressively prepare him or
her for subsequent learning
experiences.

Katz' talk mainly focused
on the future of electronic
gaming, Aiso seated on the
panel was animator Frank
Steinberg. Steinberg predicts
that continued increase in the
memory size of home com-
puters will lead to games of a
scope and complexity that
would be unthinkable now.

E.G. READER5 PICK T/IOR

FWORfTE QAME5

Most Popular Coin-Op Videogames

Dragon's Lair

Cinematronics

Star Wars

Atari

Pole Position

Atari

Q'bert

Mylstar

Burgertime

Bally Midway/Data East

Donkey Kong

Nintendo

Williams

Popeye

Nintendo

Front Line

Taito

Readers Choose Top Games

Since mere quantity of play doesn't necessarily equal actual popularity, Electronic
Games bases its standings on the votes of its readers. These lists of most popular games
are based upon more than 1000 Reader Polls. We update the "picked hits" lists in
every issue of Electronic Games.

So send in your votes!

r-TM9£ST WDCO GAME AROUND— ,
JUST GOT BETTER.

The hottest video game to come
down the pike in a hound's age.
Miner 3M9er. is now out in a nev
second edition. Three thrilling nev
screens challenge Bounty Bob in
ways only Bill Hogue. the game's
creator, could dream up. One falsi

move and Bob's in big trouble. If he's
not about to be gobbled up by a pool
of radioactive waste, he's probably a
whisker away from being crushed by
an enormous jackhammer.

Needless to say, if you plan on get-
ting Bob through in one piece, you're

every ounce of skill and ability yon

Miner 2049er, Volume I, put you to
the test. Miner 2049er, Volume II,
however, goes a step further. It puts
you over the edge.

POR USE WITH THE ATARI VCI WOO

TiGc nvmon.

'1111

IrJpl —

i ^K V x ^ " c ^

»5 ^

£«£

Joseph Barbera of Hanna-Barbera fame was the force behind the creation of the Pac-Family (shown below).

MEET PAC-MANS
VIDEO GODFATHER

Joe Barbera Talks about
T.V.'s 'Pac-Man' Show

By GABE ESSOE

Since the days of P.T. Barrmm, it
has become a well-established
fact that a celebrity in any field of en-
deavor can become a show business
personality. Look at Buffalo Bill
Cody, a frontiersman whose flai
and long blond locks turned hi
into a top Wild West Show
attraction. Others like Hoot
Gibson, a rodeo champ who
could master a Hollywood
agent as well as he did a
Brahman bull, became mat-
inee heroes. Johnny Weis-
mueller, an Olympic swim-
ming star, became king of the
cinema jungle. Even Babe Ruth,
the Sultan of Swat, took a swing
at the movies.

Yet, who would have thought that
Pac-Man, the gallant gobbler of the
videogame world, could chomp his
way into a new career on television as

the star of his own Saturday morning
cartoon series?

It takes some kind of creative
genius, or an unabashed carny show-
man, to dream that up. it helps to be
both.

Well, the culprits responsible for
turning Pac-Man into a television star
do combine both qualities plus, they
are as much a cornerstone of their in-
dustry as Pac-Man is in the ar-
cade business. The culprits,
of course, are Joe Barbera
and Bill Hanna of Hanna-
Barbera fame, the pioneers
and titans of Saturday morn-
ing television. They are the
'only guys who have ever given
Walt Disney sustained, hard-
edged competition in animation.

JUMPMAN'S A GREAT GAME.
BUT YOU'VE GOT TO WATCH YOUR STEP.

Meet the Alienators. A fiend-
ish bunch who've planted bombs
I throughout your Jupiter Command
| Headquarters.

Your job? Use your lightning
speed to scale ladders, scurry
I across girders, climb ropes and race
through 30 levels to defuse the bombs before they go off.

That's the kind of hot, non-stop action we've
packed into the award-winningfbest-sellingjumpmanr
and into Jumpman Jr'our new cartridge version with
12 all-new, different and exciting screens.

Both games force you to make tough choices.
Should you avoid that Alienator, climb to the top

and try to work your way down, or try to hurdle
him and defuse the bombs closest to you
before they go off?

If you move fast you'll earn extra lives.
But if you're not careful, it's a long way down.
So jump to it. And find out why jumpman
and Jumpman Jr. are on a level all their own.

One to four players; 8 speeds; joystick
control. Jumpman has 30 screens. Jumpman Jr.
has 12 screens.

\EG*&

SmmGYGMUS HOt THt ACTIOM-GAM f PIA YtR.

Looking back three decades, when
soaring costs of theatrical cartoons
forced the closing of most animation
studios in Hollywood, Hanna and Bar-
bera, who had won seven Oscars for
their "Tom and Jerry" cartoons at
MGM, developed a less expensive
product for TV. Their new, limited
animation, stressed plot and action,
abandoning much of the time-
consuming and expensive details of
movement and backgrounds. They
ushered in a new era of children's car-
toon programming.

Their roomful of Emmys have been
won with such clever and ground-
breaking characters as Ruff and Red-
dy, Huckleberry Hound, the Flint-
stones (which was the first animated
series in prime-time) and Scooby Doo
(which, after 12 years of new epi-
sodes, is the longest running cartoon
series in network history). More
Emmys were garnered with specials
that mixed live-action and animation,
like "The New Adventures of Huck-
leberry Finn" and "Jack and the
Beanstalk.

Hanna-Barbera's latest char
acter is Pac-Man. But how exactly
do you turn a videogame
into a hit cartoon series?
The "Pac-Mai;
show, airing
on Saturday
morning on
ABC-TV,
appears de-
ceivingly simple,
but getting it
there was anything
but easy. Keeping it on
the air is a whole other ballgame.

"The name of the game in
entertainment is to not only
keep up with the kids, but to
stay ahead of them,"
explains Joe Barbera, an
easy-going perceptive mar
who, unlike George Lucas,
the creator of "Star Wars'
is comfortable with
his success. "Kids to-
day are a whole new
breed from when I wasi
growing up. The kids
today are into electronics ^ •
and computer tech- ~jc
nology. From four- /-C^
years-old on up,
they have a veneer
of acumen and a
sophistication that
makes it ridiculous

PAC-MAN

to do shows like we've done in the
past. I hear top executives in our in-
dustry saying that something is too
sophisticated, and I have to say, 'Wait
a minute Would you mind going out
and talking to the kids?' They're so
sharp and so aware, that they won't
go for the old cat and mouse chases
that we've always done.

"The electronic revolution has
turned our lives upside down, and has
changed the face of entertainment
forever. Plus, it develops what I call a
short attention span in kids. The kids
today have so much to choose from,
that you have to give them something
new and exciting all the time. Some-

thing different, something that's hap-
pening right now."
Enter Pac-Man.

At an ABC network meeting two
years ago, the idea was brought up to
do a cartoon show based on an arcade
game. "Pac-Man was the biggest
thing in the world," reflects Barbera
"And when it came up, the network
said, 'Yeah, we'd be interested. Can
you get the rights?' And I said, 'Let's
go do it.' "

Hanna-Barbera immediately be-
gan the long months of negotiating
with Bally/Midway Manufacturing
Co., the owners of Pac-Man, for the
rights. Once convinced that Hanna-
Barbera was the right outfit for the
job, Bally/Midway wanted to know
what they were going to do with the
character.

And that is when the obstacles
started cropping up like the ghosts on
the Pac-Man arcade game.

"Here's a videogame with comput-
er graphics and electronic sound
effects, and you have to take it out of
that arena and create a totally dif-
ferent arena. Creatively, the owners
.wanted Pac-Man to be done
exactly as in the arcade
game, using the same
characters that you see
painted on the sides of
the machine.
We said that
they wouldn't
work, that
they were
:oo limiting and
old-fashioned
and they snorted,
How dare you say that?'
We argued that we had to
translate and adapt the charac-
ters so that they would work
in a continuing series, so that
they would work for us and
for the network, and also for
the owners. We had to
please everybody."
Once the rights were ob-
tained, the first major stumb-
ling block came from the
F.C.C., that sometimes
benign but often ty-
nical ruler of the com-
mercial air waves. The
C.C. rules are very strict
about television shows
based on a product in
ithe marketplace. If the ser-
s is too much like the ori-
ginal, the F.C.C. deems it

PITSTOR

You'll never make
I Grand Prix champion just
I driving in circles.

You've got to stop
I sometime. The question is
I when. Right now you're
I in the lead. But the faster
you go, the more gas you consume. And the
quicker your tires wear down.

If you do pull into the pits, though, you lose
precious seconds. So it's up to you to make sure the
pit crew is quick with those tires. And careful with
that gas. Otherwise, poof! you're out of the race.

So what'll it be, Mario? Think your tires
will hold up for another lap? Or should you
play it safe and go get some new ones?

Think it over. Because Pitstop" is the
one and only road race game where winning
is more than just driving. It's the pits.

Goggles not included.

One or two players; 6 racecourses,

joystick control.

\Eim

STBATtGYGAMiS FOR THt ACTIOHGAMi PIAYER

ith PAC-MAN tst,

o o o o o o{_^>

o o o o o

The Pac- Family does what they know best.

advertising. And that is a humungous
no-no.

Barbera remembers it all with a
chuckle. "Once it was clear we were
going to do Pac-Man, the first thing
we had to do was to not do Pac-Man.
The problem we faced was creating
the same show as the game, but radi-
cally different from the actual arcade
game, so that it wouldn't be consid-
ered advertising. We had to get com-
pletely away from even the hint of
commerciality. That's where we
started.

"We couldn't use the sound effects
that everyone who plays Pac-Man has

engrained in their brains. We had to
simulate it to avoid advertising the
game. See how easy they made it for
us?"

But it wasn't just the F.C.C. and the
owners who laid down creative obsta-
cles. The ABC network had their own
stringent guidelines.

"Next came Network's Programs
and Practices," continues Barbera
good naturedly, "and they said we
can't show the eating of the characters
on-screen. It's too violent. So, how do
you do that when it's the central ac-
tion of the game? We had to invent a
new way of doing it so there is no pain,
gore or violence. We did it with a little
magic, where little bubbles pop up
whenever they do that, and then
they're immediately restored. They're
not really human, you see."

The actual creation of the show be-
gan with the characters.

"First of all you design the charac-
ters themselves, the way they are
going to look on-screen. We designed
Mr. Pac-Man, a Ms. Pac-Man, and we
created a Baby Pac, a Baby Pop-Pac, a
Kitty Pac and all that stuff.

"We then had to create a new Pac-
Man world, with buildings and trees.
We designed round buildings with
round doorways because the charac-
ters are round. We had to design what

Mezmaron puts an evil spell on the Pacs.

they eat and some kind of stress factor
to keep the show moving. We used
the ghosts from the game, who in our
show are sent there by the heavy, who
we created. What they want is simply
to get the power pellets that Pac-Man ■
eats and give him his power. Now
when you take the arcade game, there
are these little electronic gimmicks
going around. We took it out of that
realm and created an entertaining
piece of television without losing the
ambiance of the game, and still made
it work."

The key to making any show work is
personality. But how do you instill per-

Inky, Btinky 8. Company

to beat

up to the ole Cobbler.

WELCOME TO APSHAI.
YOU'RE JUST IN TIME FOR LUNCH.

Boy, have you taken
a wrong turn. One moment
you're gathering treasure
and the next you're being
eyed like a side of beef.

You're in the Gateway
to Apshaii" The new cart-
ridge version of the Computer Game of the Year *
Temple of Apshai.™

Gateway has eight levels. And over 400 dark,
nasty chambers to explore. And because it's joy-
stick controlled, you'll have to move faster than ever.
But first you'll have to consider your strategy.

Is it treasure you're after? Or glory? You'll
live longer if you're greedy, but slaying mon-
sters racks up a higher score.

The Apshai series is the standard by
which all other adventure games are judged.
And novices will not survive.

They'll be eaten.
One player; Temple of Apshai, disk/cassette;
Gateway to Apshai, cartridge, joystick control.

wim

smater&uasfw wf Anton-ami pimw

sonality into a round, yellow, elec-
tronic-eating graphic?

"Once you've designed the charac-
ters, you bring in all kinds of people to
test their voices," reveals Barbera.
"And you keep testing voices until you
find the one that works. The voice for
Mr. Pac-Man is, of course, Marty Ing-
els, who's done a lot of work for us in
the past.

"The key to a voice is, if you're
listening to it and it makes you smile,
and it's kind of funny, it works. Some-
times when we're casting voices, and
we have the network people there, I'll
just play a tape with a lot of voice tests,
without any identification as to who
they are. When we went by Marty's
voice, everybody asked about it but,
we kept going, and after we were
done, someone said, 'Let's go back to
that particular one. ' I knew that if I had
told them the voice belonged to Marty
Ingles, they'd immediately get a pic-
ture of Marty in their minds, and that's
who they'd be thinking of when they
heard the voice. Now, Marty has a
gravelly quality to his voice that's very
funny. And that voice is what supplies
character and personality to Mr. Pac-
Man. Half of your success with any
cartoon character is selecting the right

The first season of the Pac-Man car-

PAC-MAN

toon series was a hit for ABC. And for
Hanna-Barbera. The Pac-Man
videogame didn't fair quite as well in
the video marketplace. In an arena
which has been glutted by hundreds
of new videogames, all marketed in
fiercely competitive ways, Pac-Man
sales took a nose dive.

"I don't know why it wasn't ex-
pected," surmises Barbera sagely. "It's
like I've said, the attention span of kids
doesn't hold. What Pac-Man has
going for it, is that it was one of the
first to take off. It's solid, a corner-
stone, but they've come up with all
kinds of new games to grab the kids.
I've seen a lot of the new ones, and I
can't even describe them, but Pac-
Man you know and understand ."

Barbera admits that he subscribes
to Electronic Games, in an attempt
to keep up. "But when you go down a
whole row of machines at the arcade,
they're really all the same. So the
problem is, with the arcade games, as
with the cartoon show, how ao you
sustain your audience?"

ABC has ordered new Pac-Man epi-

sodes for the 1983-'84 season, and
Hanna-Barbera is geared up to deliver
a second season. "The minute they do
that, you know that they have confi-
dence in you and you were successful.
If they don't order new shows, the
merchandising people disappear and
all that marketing support that is so
necessary to survival is gone. If you
don't have that these days, you're in
trouble.

"Our problem now is how to keep
the audience we've built up. We've
recently introduced a Super-Pac char-
acter and a smart aleck nephew, not
exactly a Fonzie character, but smart
and cool like all teenagers want to be.
What you have to do, like with any
television show, is keep evolving and
creating new elements. You have to
let the show grow with your audience.
Our super hero Pac-Man character is
the kind of guy who shows up to res-
cue somebody and forgets why he's
there. So we infuse a little comedy.
You can't do that with the arcade
game. They're limited by the virtue of
their technology. We're not. So
actually, we have an advantage."

And if you judge the future success
of the Pac-Man series by Hanna-
Barbera's past success, it's possible
that Pac-Man will enjoy a long run as a
television star. G

Barbera feels the cartoon progr

grow with the times ai

GIVE YOUR KIDS
A LESSON THEY'LL NEVER FORGET.

When kids have fun and learn at the
same time, they're more likely to remember
more of what they've learned. What's more,
when they associate the two together—
learning becomes an enjoyable activity. So
they'll do more of it.

That's the basic principle behind the
Learning Fun Series from EPYX.

FUN WITH MUSIC. PARENTS TAKE NOTE.

Fun with Music'" is designed to appeal
to both you and your children. It comes with
a songbook and has two modes of play. In
the first mode, you can enter songs from the
songbook — or compose your own. Then

play the songs back, adding or removing
notes and changing tempo or key. Your com-
puter is like a musical instrument with
memory, and you see every note of it dis-
played on your screen.

The second mode lets you play your
song in a fun-filled action
game. You control a drum I
major trying to touch the j
notes before a small but
pesky poodle catches up
to him and slows down
the parade.

Either way, Fun with
Music gives you and your
whole family the perfect
mix of learning and play

FUN WITH ART. JUST PICTURE IT.

Creating art on the video screen is one
of the newest forms of "high-tech" play for
kids. And adults, for that matter. Plus there's
nothing to clean up afterwards.

Fun with Art™ uses the computer and
joystick to transform your TV screen into
an artist's canvas with astonishing results.
128 colors, numerous brush strokes, all
kinds of geometric shapes, and special fill-in
and magnifying options are some of the
24 different modes and features available to
create works of art never before possible.

Fun with Art brings out the artist in
you, no matter what your age!

MORE LEARNING FUN ON THE WAY.

These two are the first of an extensive
series of Learning Fun games we have
planned. Look for these, as well as other
EPYX titles, wherever computer software
is sold.

LEARNING FUH SERIES.

5200 VS COLECOVISION:
A GAMER'S OPINION

In your opinion, which one is better:
the ColecoVision or the 5200? I think
ColecoVision has terrible, cheaply-
built controllers. They're much harder
to use than I ntelli vision keypads. Col-
ecoVision has another fault, too. If
three objects are on the same Y-axis,
one of the objects either flickers or

almost disappears. For a third-wave
system, I think ColecoVision is a joke.
Ashok Penmatcha
Taylor Ridge, IL
Ed: Well, your opinion is obvious,
anyway! As far as which system is bet-
ter, it's purely a matter of opinion.
Stay tuned for an upcoming feature, in
which we'll evaluate the ColecoVi-
sion against the 5200. . .one year after
their releases.

THE VCS AN ATARI PLOT?

Please give us subscribers our
money's worth by giving every VCS

MYOUR X MAS GIFT CENTER

QnlfNlMW (800)221-1977

,=^^^^5 = 5=5 = === FOB INFORMATION CALL (212) 33J-5687

COMPUTERS S5*™ CALL

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PLEASE CALL F<

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E0 GAME CARTRIDGES INC
Dept. E. 63-56 108th Sir

game a bad review. Everyone knows
that behind every good review is Atari
Incorporated and a load of money. In-
tellivision and Coleco are more deserv-
ing of better coverage.

Anonymous
Warner Robins, GA
Ed: Intellivision and ColecoVision
are systems with higher resident
memories, but that doesn 't mean the
VCS is a bad game playing machine.
As long as our Reader Polls keep
showing a strong interest in VCS
game reviews, we'll keep printing
them. If you'd rather hear about other
game or computer systems, fill out the
Reader Poll and let us know.

GETTING IT STRAIGHT

On page 50 of your September
issue, you mistakenly showed Imagic's
Dracula for the ColecoVision instead
of the Intellivision version. Also, on
page 103, you mixed up Space
Dungeon and Kangaroo for the Atari
5200.

John Slupski
Address unknown

PANS INTELLIVISION JOYSTICK

Thanks for the attention you've
given to gourmet joysticks. One stick
you didn't cover was the Mattel Tron
joystick. I wish you had. My friend
bought one because it looks good. It
looks good, but that's all. The joystick
just isn't responsive enough on many
games like Adventures of Tron and
Deadly Discs.

Keith Cooke
Stafford, VA

COIN-OP STRATEGY HINTS

In Atari's Star Wars, concentrate on
hitting the Tie Fighters' bullets before
going for the spaceships themselves.

Try to stay in the inside lane as much
as possible when playing Pole Posi-
tion. This gives you more time to cross
the finish line.

Brent Busboom

Reno, NV

SCORE :0057El* A A

SCORE :0319S7

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The Mother Ship can ricochet your own
proton cannons against you.

Buck Rogers, Planet of Zoom.

Your one chance to defeat

the toughest enemy of all. Time.

f you've played Buck Rogers, Planet of Zoom in the arcades, you've had a
taste of what space chase action is all about. Now maybe you're ready for
something even better

A home game that takes the arcade version and makes it even faster,
more challenging, more fun.

You'll battle your way through 3-D space. Maneuver through bullet-firing
magnetic poles and alien saucers. Shoot it out with hopping droids and
enemy fighters until you face the ultimate challenge, the mother ship.
But time is not on your side. You have to be fast to destroy the mother
ship. If you're too slow, kiss mother goodbye.

Look tor Buck Rogers at your local store. But hurry. This is one
game thafs realty moving fast.

.sua

The Arcade Winners.

COLOR TV I

OR
MONITOR 1

ATARI

850 -

INTERFACE

■ By HENRY B. COHEN!

This project began life as the "Ulti-
mate Atari 400". It has grown into
the ultimate computer game station.
Although EG has previously designed
equipment for gamers to drool over,
(See "The Ultimate Gaming Gift", De-
cember, 1982) it is the first time we
enlisted the aid of a major manufac-
turer to help create a totally new prod-
uct. Lastly, we planned to feature this
design concept in the December 1982
issue but alas, as we kept on improv-
ing, time was disapproving. Instead
of compromising, we opted to reveal
all in this month, instead.

The station is the first computer
center that is both compact enough to
fit almost anywhere and is completely
self-contained. Within its boundaries
lies an extremely powerful (80K) color
computer, a color TV, high-capacity
dual disk drives, two speech synthesiz-
ers, a light pen, a modem and tele-
phone, a complete printer station,
storage areas for 50 cartridges and 60
disks, built-in lighting and a power-
strip. The rolling cube, primarily de-
signed for seating, is hinged at the top
to provide 4 cu. ft. of additional stor-
age. Amazingly, the entire unit is bare-
ly 31 -in. wide. Now, before someone
dies of curiosity, let's look at the com-
ponents that made it all possible.

The station is centered on an Atari
400 outfitted with a Mosaic Select 64
RAM cram, an Inhome Software B Key
400 keyboard and a Microbits
Peripheral Products Printer Interface.
We selected these products, and all
others, based on the criteria of price
and performance. The Mosaic board
provides the computer with a true
user-addressable 64K of RAM. To

Here it is in all its glory — the ultimate
computer game station. Note how every major
component is in easy reach for printing.

achieve this, the unit features the trad-
itional hard-wired 48K of memory
and 16K of additional memory stored
in four, 4K RAM banks. A simple poke
command accesses these banks so
that a total of 64K is available.

The operating and I/O systems are
left intact, and if added to the RAM
provided by the Select unit, produce
the 80K configuration, Installation is
simple and straightforward. Often, it
will be solderless, but some owners
will have to solder depending on how
closely Atari has trimmed the leads
eminating from the motherboards. In-
stallation of the B Key 400 keyboard is

a straight Remove and Replace opera-
tion although the ribbon connector
used is troublesome to seat properly. A
short circuit condition arose after
several days of use when a jumper
cable employed in the keyboard
frayed its insulation. There won't be
any problem if all jumpers used are
well-insulated or clear the board by a
fraction of an inch. A simple chip re-
placement has the printer interface up
and running within minutes.

The Atari 400 was selected, because
many of EG's readers currently own
one, and the cost of the unit has be-
come insignificant. If, however, you
don't own an Atari computer and
want to purchase one, we recommend
the 800 as the place to start. It comes
equipped with a reasonable keyboard
and with 48K of on-board RAM,
doesn't require retrofitting to provide
countless hours of gaming and pro-
gramming power and pleasure. At its
current street price of $200.00, it is
unquestionably the best buy in home
computers. The Microbits Printer In-
terface eliminates the need for the rel-
atively expensive Atari 850 Interface
but if you own an 850, forget we even
mentioned it. The current cost of our
modified 400 is $240.00 without the
Microbits product, and about $320.00
with it. With 800's priced so low, the
choice is tough as the pure Atari prod-
uct provides a better keyboard and a
monitor output for less money, while
the EG Atari 400 gives 16K of addi-
tional memory but only an RF (TV)
output. Either Atari computer, or most
other small home computers, for that
matter, will comfortably fit in the
cabinetry, however, so if your interests

THE ULTIMATE

GAMING GIFT

EG Engineers A State-of -the- Art
Computer Gaming Station

THE ULTIMATE

lie elsewhere, don't leave us yet.

With all that power available,
there's no current Atari game that
can't be played on this system. But to
get those games up and running you
really need a disk drive. Having au-
ditioned several drives, including Atar-
i's own 810, we selected the superb
Percom RFD 44-S2. This is a dual
drive, double side, double density sys-
tem for the price-is-no-object crowd

GAMING GIFT

By now it must be obvious that EG
intended to create a model system
capable of performing virtually any
task in the world of home computing.
Given the high cost of many of these
components, however, we are also
providing many options along the
way. You can get by with less RAM
although 48K is the minimum EG
recommends. The power of 700K of
mass storage is unnecessary unless

In this shot, note the paper shelves. With just a push and a flip they vanish.

as the unit retails at discount for about
$1000.00. Obviously you needn't go
that far to play games, but if you are a
programmer or crave convenience,
this is the drive system of choice. We
expect that Percom's other drives will
prove just as desirable although we
can't say for sure without hands-on
experience. The unit comes with the
OS/A+ operating system, a DOS de-
signed for the almost 700K capacity of
the dual drives. One particularly note-
worthy feature of this new DOS is that
it allows software configuration of the
drives. The drives may also be set by a
rear mounted DIP switch.

you plan to program. The minimum
requirement is a single sided, single
density drive.

And if you own an 850 interface,
the Microbits Printer Interface is un-
necessary. However, if you're starting
from scratch, as we did, you might
want to check out this unit and one
other Microbit creation. Their MPP-
1000 modem connects directly to
joystick port #4 and does not require
an 850 either. We could not actually
test this unit because the modem must
be inserted in the telephone line be-
tween the body of the phone and the
receiver. All our phones are of non-Bell

origin and so we had to content
ourselves with running the software
only. Judging from the menu, it looks
extremely powerful. Microbits has
created communications software
that emulates a great many functions
of a "smart" modem. It simplifies up
and down loading and contains nine
buffers and a built-in editor to keep
things humming along. By the time
you read this, the company should be
marketing a modem that connects
directly to the phone jack.

The only reservation we have about
MPP products is the relatively high
($200.00) list price of the modem. For
that kind of money, a Hayes Smart-
modem is within range. Unless you
can get an MPP-1000 at a substantial
discount, the value is questionable.
But if you don't own an 850 interface,
this is the only modem we know of
that operates without one.

To furnish the station with a work-
ing modem, and to get a crack at the
lowest cost unit around, Anchor Auto-
mation supplied us with its latest
product — Volksmodem. This is a
super-low-cost device (retailing for
about $65.00) that can service almost
any computer. The trick lies in its oper-
ating simplicity and the use of custo-
mized cables. Two slide switches on
the modem are user-operable. One
selects half or full duplex operation,
while the other is a voice/data switch.
Tones generated by the modem aid in
revealing operational status as the unit
automatically selects the originate or
answer mode. In use, the modem
seems to work well and is simplicity
itself to operate. It does not come with
software and so the total cost of the
package is variable. Still it is cheap,
compact, and guaranteed for life.

The Tech-Sketch LP-15 precision
light pen is a miniature marvel and
comes supplied with software. Just
load the program, plug the pen into
joystick port #4 and away you go. The
program is the only weak link as it is
written in BASIC and so is therefore
slightly slow to respond. We prefer
machine language programs which
we are told are on the way. As of this
writing the company has announced a
line of improved software packages
but even in their absence, we can
totally recommend this unit. It isn't
cheap since it lists at $139.95, but it

When you play Congo Bongo
ill die laughing.

A funny thing happens when you play Congo Bongo, the new home game
from Sega. In fact, a lot of funny things happen.

You have to get to Congo, the mighty ape, before the jungle beasts get
to you. Dodge falling coconuts as you scale Monkey Mountain. Shake the
monkey from your back and chase Congo onto the lagoon screen. Then
cross the water on the backs of hippos, lily pads and hunter-eattng fish.
And do it all before Congo makes a monkey out of you.
But watch your step - one slip and ifs off to hunter heaven.
Congo Bongo. Straight from the arcade and into your home.
Ifs more fun than a barrel of, well, monkeys.

and VIC-ZO; Texas
Instruments 99/4A "
Intelllvislon-

THE ULTIMATE

GAMING GIFT

■Uf

is extremely good and worth the cost.

As mentioned earlier, the unit has
two speech synthesizers. Why two?
Our favorite for the Atari computer is
the Voice Box II from The Alien Croup.
This is a seemingly simple little black
box (retail is about $100.00) that
thinks it's a printer. It plugs into the
Atari serial port and talks through your
TV's loudspeaker. It comes with two
disks full of programs and can enter-
tain for hours. Games, simple text to
speech, and a wonderful moving face
and singing program round out the
package. The ease of running the unit
will delight novices while program-
mers will have a field day inputting all
manner of craziness. Games that talk,
faces that sing, and if you're good
enough, perhaps a real test-to-speech
program. But if you require the latter,
the Echo Speech Synthesizer at
$300.00 is for you. The unit contains
its own amplifier and speaker and is
easily connected to the 850 interface
device. We prefer the Echo to its com-
petition because it sounds a bit more
human and is more easily understood.

When it comes to printers, the best
price/value combination on the mar-

ket is the Gorilla Banana from Leading
Edge, The unit is currently street priced
at $200.00 and it works. Print quality,
while not up to the standards of the
best dot matrix units, is more than
satisfactory. Built by Seikosha, a divi-
sion of Seiko, it is a high quality unit
throughout, If you crave an 80-
column printer and can live with a
moderately fast 50 CPS printing
speed, buy the Banana.

You may have noticed, in the illus-
trations, a compact color monitor sit-
ting in the cabinet. Well it isn't a moni-
tor, it's a portable AC/DC 9-in. color
TV marketed by Magnavox, We opted
for this unit based on size, perfor-
mance, appearance and price, The set
now sells for about $270.00. That's
higher than some "real" monitors, but
it can be taken and played anywhere.
Double duty is the key. Picture quality
is particularly good and, with the 400's
RF output, exemplary. The only draw-
back to the set is relatively low bright-
ness, but when you're staring at a
screen all day, this may become a ben-
efit. We recommend you try the set
with a computer attached — its
broadcast reception is ex eel lent — and

then you can judge for yourself.

Lastly, only a touch of modesty pre-
vents screaming from the rooftops
"we did it!" but the cabinet that
makes the whole system work is no-
thing short of stupendous. Engineered
and built for this magazine by Wood-
Rack Technologies, the yet unnamed
EG Computer Station is a brilliant ex-
ample of compactness, versatility and
convenience. Wood-Rack is well
known for its heavy duty construction
and lack of visible hardware. Moreov-
er the unit assembles without tools. It
is simply fitted together. The result is a
cabinet strong enough to endure any-
thing even the youngest gamers can
conjure up. This thing is a tank. More
important, it's fitted with a sliding
drawer for the printer, a folding table
for paper reception, hidden wiring
compartments for neatness, special
storage racks for disks, and a fully pro-
tected compartment for cartridges.
Other touches you may miss include
a blackened compartment for the
monitor, a white roofed compartment
for the printer and keyboard, wire
storage units on the rear of the
cabinet, optional casters for rolling the
unit about and a spacious storage
bench. There's even a turntable to
facilitate adjusting the TV for max-
imum picture quality. Actually the list
goes on but you get the idea. While a
firm price for the cabinet has not been
established, it is expected to retail for
$350.00, perhaps $50.00 more for the
bench.

While the unit is designed to house
the specific equipment contained, it is
also set up for maximum versatility.
Most home computers will fit in with-
out any problem, as will many small
printers. The disk bay will hold two
horizontal units or a cassette recorder,
The paper shelf is strong enough to
support additional disk drives or
another computer, etc.

So that's the 1984 edition of the
ultimate computer station. Sugges-
tions and comments are welcomed as
we would like to continue this project
until nothing conceivable can be
added. If you are interested in the
cabinet, contact Wood-Rack Tech-
nologies at: (212) 768-3835 or 768-
3861 and no, EG has no vested in-
terest in this project other than the
desire to better the breed, G

• Pole Position II is engineered and
-nanuteckired under license by Atar
" ademark and © Namco 1982,

ESMES1ISC

What's Next for Games on Videodisc?

By LES PAUL ROBLEY and BILL KUNKEL

The dust kicked up by Don Bluth/
Cinematronics' coin-op smash,
Dragon's Lair, hasn't even begun to
settle — more likely, it is continuing to
rise — and it's already time to start
looking at what's coming next.

Dragon's Lair was a curious success,
right from the beginning. Certainly,
heading into 1983, few industry insid-
ers would have figured the "Next Big
Arcade Came" to come from the
bankrupt Cinematronics. The El Cajon
coin-op company has been an invisi-
ble, if revolutionary, entity in terms of
industry recognition for almost a
decade.

Actually, Cinematronics introduced
vector graphics to arcades with the
seminal space shoot-out Star Hawk,
and produced the cult favorite Space
Castle. Alas, vector graphics were per-
ceived as a "fad" among arcade taste-
makers when games such as Zaxxon
were taking the traditional rasterscan
graphics to the limits.

Cinematronics was left with a lot of

vector monitors, however, and dog-
gedly bucked the tide with a con-
tinuing trickle of largely-ignored
videogames. The wind-up seemed im-
minent when Cinematronics went
Chapter 11.

Don Bluth, a former Disney anima-
tor, was sitting around during all of
this, buried in the ashes of his own
major failure. Bluth and a few other
Disney creative people left Uncle
Walt's wing to try and fly on their own
with the enchanting "The Secret of
NIHM". The result, at the box office,
was disastrous.

So, of course, these two forces man-
aged to intersect long enough to make
videogame history. What else?

In many ways, however, this
seemingly haphazard fate is a lot more
prosaic than it first appears. Who else
but a company such as Cinematronics,
on the ropes, slipping toward the can-
vas with Mr. T waiting above just in
case it did get up, dare produce a laser-
disc-technology based coin-op?

It is in the nature of laserdisc
videogames that they will be "conver-
tible", that is, the arcade owner will
be able to buy a new disc, change the
signs around, and, voilai, he's got a
brand new machine.

Convertible coin-ops have been
pretty much an anathema amongst
the coin-op giants. "It's the nature of
our industry," explains a spokesman
for Bally-Midway, "that we need to
make every videogame a new
machine. Aesthetically, we can create
each new cabinet so that it offers uni-
que lathework and, technologically,
we can make the post state-of-the-art
breakthroughs in sound and graphics,
only by taking in major revenue for
each new coin-op. These convertible
coin-ops are generic videogames, they
show mediocre graphics and warmed-
over game ideas. That is not what this
field needs."

Yet Dragon's Lair is a whole new
ballgame, In early showings, accord-
ing to Replay magazine, arcades

Cinematronics' Dragon's Lair was the first of the laserdisc games, but it has strong competiti

boasting the then-hard to get Drag-
on's Lair were up an average of $30
per night on all videogames. The in-
dustry has been virtually without a
dominant title since Pac-Man. A look
at the top 1 earners makes an arcader
feel like he has wandered into the past
— Calaga, Ms. Pac-Man and Mil-
lipede represent some of the younger
blood on the list!

In the summer of '83, only Atari's
Star Wars was in the same lair as our
dragon, with the first animated
videogame drawing attention in vir-
tually every medium. It was an explo-
sion a long time in detonation.

Five years earlier, a designer named
Rick Dyer had his AMS crew working
on a concept for telling a story using a
home videogame process with players
making decisions that affected the
outcome of the story. AMS completed
several prototype storyboards on
scrolls, which they took to Bluth.

"A computer selected the correct
scene on the scrolls," explains Bluth.
"It was a very crude approach, and
when I look at the process today it
reminds me of a Rube Goldberg
machine of the '80s. Nevertheless, we
thought it a splendid idea in terms of
marrying art with science, one which
would not only help the sliding
videogame market, but benefit the
floundering animation industry as
well."

ESMESOH

DISC

It worked. Utilizing an industrial
Pioneer Laserdisc (which Cinematro-
nics had to wheedle from the ware-
houses in which they remained, un-
sold) the game offered rapid search,
using a laser beam in lieu of an actual
needle, allowing the beam to scan the
entire record in order to bring up the
scene that is the logical result of the
player's action commands. There is
still, of course, a slight time lag, but it is
not an insoluble problem, and future
games may circumvent it entirely.

Ah, yes, future games.

Bluth already has several projects
under development. Space Ace in-
volves a super hero who is reduced to
an infant named Dexter by the evil
"Infanto Ray" (shades of Flash Cor-
don). In his child form, Dexter boards a
spaceship and pursues the evil alien
villain, a creature called Borf who has
kidnapped his girlfriend and threatens

to reduce all of earth to screaming
infants.

If the player, as Dexter, makes all
the right moves, he gains points. Earn
enough points and the screen will
glow reddish, beeps will sound, and
letters will say "energize." If the player
opts to energize, he will turn back into
Space Ace with only 1 2 seconds to use
that form. Like Pac-Man, Space Ace
can now meet even greater dangers,
earning higher points. Or the player
can remain as Dexter, pursuing a safer
route and consequently earning fewer
points.

"Unlike Dragon's Lair, Space Ace
will have a branching capability
whereby players decide how they
want to go through the game,"
announced Bluth. The branching ele-
ment gives them the opportunity of
becoming two different personalities.
Again, the new game will feature a
joystick plus an action button.

"We tried to keep it simple this
way," added Bluth. "If you make con-
trols too complicated, the game loses
its fun. Players should concentrate
mainly on what they see on the
screen."

New techniques will also be em-
ployed in the animation process. More
multiplanes will be used (trucking
shots present no problems with laser-
disc), as well as actual miniatures for
backgrounds a la Max and Dave Fleis-

Which player is
winging his way to victory?

ATARI

cher. Using a periscope camera in
front of the model and dollying lateral-
ly will impart an added 3-dimensional
realism to the backgrounds.

"We found we needed that kind of
look to help players know when to
react and size up what the danger is,"
added Gary Goldman, Don Bluth's
animation director (Bluth's own studio
is manufacturing the models.)

Bluth foresees future breakthroughs
with laserdisc interactives, some of
which should appear in two year's
time. One will be the ability to place
the animation on any background de-
sired, not unlike the travelling matte
processes used on motion pictures.
The backgrounds might be on a sepa-
rate laserdisc and put together via
computer, without the need for ex-
pensive matting. We may even come
across games whereby a move to the
right would invite a totally different

EMS OK

DISC

upfront for the license, with plans to
couple their ColecoVision game con-
sole to a home laserdisc player. Coleco
is supposedly on the brink of develop-
ing a disc player attachment that will
hook into their unit for approximately
$1 50 or less. It should utilize the same
digital joystick controller and action
buttons featured on the keypad.

According to Goldman, the home
version will contain the same anima-
tion graphics used in the present
arcade format, since no picture in-
formation or memory losses occur in
disc translation. The actual disc player,
though, may be stylus rather than las-
er to reduce cost. The game won't be
available until next year — the main
reason — so it doesn't compete with
arcade owners trying to recoup invest-
ments made on the coin -op. Coleco
has also purchased first right of refusal
for future Bluth games produced

adventure. Or, the ability will exist to
move the figure regardless of the ac-
tion or threat. This would obviously
increase the illusion that the player has
total control of the animated char-
acter.

"There can never be total control
with laserdisc," cautioned Goldman,
"or any videogame that's out there
now. It's only the illusion of total con-
trol which we hope to increase in the
future over the present game. In
Dragon's Lair, our basic approach was
to entertain, to capture an audience's
imagination. By being the first one out
there and possessing the quality of
graphics it has, I think Dragon's Lair
has excited that audience. It's also
forced game manufacturers to look a
fittle differently at the future of elec-
tronic gaming.

"What we offer is a 'window of the
future', a means by which gamers can

In Bally Midway's Astron Belt, gam-
ers will find an interesting blend of
videogame graphics and film footage.

play movies. Down the road, I think
we'll see more film companies
approach videogames via their own
film productions. Rather than take the
character from a film and create a
game around it, they will take the
movie and at the same time produce a
game based on the actual live-action
or animation from the film."

A home version of the current Drag-
on's Lair is underway at Coleco In-
dustries. The top selling game manu-
facturer paid an incredible $2 million

under the Starcom banner. Success in
the homes once again depends on the
consumer's investment in videodisc
hardware.

Naturally, a sequel to Lair is already
in the works, this one using a
motif, in which the player battles the
knight, Dirk the Daring, by manipulat-
ing the various menaces he confronts.

Bluth and Cinematronics aren't the
only ones involved in laserdisc coin-
ops, and the home rights to same. Bal-
ly/Midway recently jumped into the
fray by acquiring Sega Enterprises and
their laserdisc game — Astron Belt.
After many changes, Astron Belt, a
multiple-scenario shoot- 'em-up, fea-
tures actual miniature film footage. In
this fast-paced game, the arcader's
spaceship battles the bad guys in outer
space, within space station tunnels,
and between canyon walls, as well as
strafes ground targets.

With the new joy-sensor™

controller and JOY«SENSOR for

Colecovision the action

\ ^ 1

■

TOUCH OF SU(

JOVSEnSOR

Available at sears," Service Merchandise
and other fine stores

According to Jim Jarocki, of Bally,
there are some basic differences be-
tween Astron Belt and Dragon's Lair.
For one thing, the gamer will have
complete control of the ship through-
out the game. Because the computer
doesn't branch to other scenarios ev-
ery few seconds, there aren't any
blackout screens.

Another difference has to do with
the first seconds of play. "In Drag-
on's Lair, you can get wiped out in a
couple of seconds," Jarocki says. "In
Astron Belt, we added a timer — you
can think of it as a 'protect-your-life'
feature. For the first 40 to 60 seconds,
the gamer's spaceship is automatically
replaced if it's destroyed. It's sort of
like playing with an infinite amount of
ships."

The ultimate evolution of laserdisc
games, as alluded to earlier, may well
be in the home. With the restrictions
of coin-op games being so great, espe-
cially in terms of maximum time, think
how much more freedom the home
medium would provide.

The average filmmaker shoots
much more actual footage than is ever
seen on the screen. How easy it would
be to shoot alternate plot develop-
ments as a film is in process — players
could actually be Luke Skywalker or
Indiana Jones, and film companies will
have yet another format in which to
sell their wares.

Whatever may lie ahead for the in-
teractive videodisc game, it is certainly
all smiles right now. Dragon's Lair has
the interesting distinction of being the
only coin-op ever to be set, standard,
at 50 cents per play, and still hit big.

With arcades alive again with the
sound of tokens, tinkling merrily into
coin boxes, gamers can get ready for a

CMS OH

DEC

Among the over 40 laserdisc screens
in Bega's Battle is this cityseape.
Note the superimposed graphics,

deluge of videodisc coin-ops from
some of the smaller companies.

Obviously working on the philoso-
phy that "when you ain't got nothin',
you ain't got nothin' to lose", Exidy
has jumped back into the videogame
business with Crossbow, a less car-
toonish adventure utilizing a mass
solid state memory system with no
moving parts.

Crossbow utilizes greater player-
game interaction, according to Exidy's
promotional releases, than a game
such as Dragon's Lair which offers
joystick directed movement and a
single button to inaugurate particular

action — such as letting fly with a
salvo of arrows.

Exidy promises eight scenarios for
Crossbow, with no "dead spots" while
the laser searches for the correct
position.

Data East, meanwhile, kings of the
generic videogame and the creators
of both BurgerTime and Bump 'N'
Jump, are also entering the laserdisc
sweepstakes with a new coin-op dub-
bed Bega's Battle. Utilizing over 40
interactive, disc-generated screens for
background and P. C. -created charac-
ters as foreground player/object sur-
rogates, this title pits the arcader, as
the powerful Bega, in a battle against
those ever-popular "dark forces" in-
tent upon ravaging and subduing
mankind.

The future for videodisc games is,
obviously, now. A major battle is
being waged on the arcade floors, and
neither side can be called "dark for-
ces". Will the laserdisc prove a fad, a
flash-in-the-pan, yesterday's papers
tomorrow? Or might they, instead,
overwhelm and dominate the coin-op
universe with their breadth of poten-
tial subjects, forevertoppling the com-
puter-generated image from its perch
at the top of the hill.

More likely, however, is the fact
that laserdisc-technology will become
part of the overall videogame matrix.
Already, in the home market, laser-
disc's such as "Murder, Anyone?" and
"Many Roads to Murder" can be play-
ed simply through digitized access to
numerous scenarios, sans computer.
More than any other industry,
videogames have displayed a
tremendous willingness to evolve with
the introduction of new, augmented
technology. Q

Bega's Battle, by Data East, pits the gamer (as the powerful Bega) against the evil powers intent on destroying mankind.

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Enemv

A great visual concept in video
games-play by yourself or team
with a friend to brinp home to earth
tour ships loaded with vital supplies.
Enemy aliens have blockaded your
route, so you must flash through
a mine-filled asteroid belt to avoid
detection. You steer and shoot from
your ship's nose-cone command
post as the universe rushes past
your eyes!

One or two players compete to
guide Sewer Sam through
myriad mazes of danger-filled
tunnels searching for. . . beep, beep
beep . . . three enemy submarines that
have invaded the city's sewer system.
But watcti out for subterranean
dangers, as Sam dodges and shoots
snakes, crocodiles, bats, rats, web-
spinning spiders, and more! Enough to
make even the stout-hearted shudder. . .
as Sam searches through wet and dry
tunnels for the ultimate showdown!

INTERPHASE ACTION PACKED VIDEO GAMES ARE NOW

AVAILABLE FOR COLECOVISION ADAM. COMMODORE 64,

ATARI, MSX, AND INTELLIVISION1

€GGOQ,

By LISA HONDEN & BILL KUNKEL

Pity the poor European electronic
gaming enthusiast!!!

While North American arcaders
wrestle with problems no more serious
than a temporary shortage of Col-
ecoVision cartridges or Commodore
64 software, our game-loving cousins
across the Atlantic must hurdle much
serious — and basic — obstacles
that stand in the way of their enjoy-
ment of the world's fastest-growing
hobby.

The information gap between the
U.S. and the Continent is the main
trouble. Most Europe-based electronic
gamers lack access to the majority of
the hardware, software, peripherals
and accessories which we take for
granted.

EEESiH

KSaXttBSEK.'SES:

(DNTIH

Those who are lucky enough to own
home systems paid through the nose
to get one. The 450,000 West German
families who own Atari 2600s shell-
ed out an average of 400 Marks
(roughly $200) for their machines.

The software situation isn't much
brighter. In-store game demonstra-
tions are virtually unknown in the
large department stores which do
most of the home arcade retailing.
Strong networks and user groups have
sprung up to fill this data vacuum. It
isn't unusual for a gamer to demon-
strate an entire collection to a fellow
enthusiast. Needless to say, word-of-
mouth is the quickest route to popular-
ity for a new title. Not only can't gam-
ers see what they're buying in the big
stores, but a prospective customer
must know the title's stock number
before walking in the door! (And if you

think home arcading is rugged on the
pocketbook, German coin-ops top out
at a world-high average of $1 per
playl)

Here is a rough breakdown of game
and computer system ownership in
Germany, a fair index of how things
are* progressing in at least one
videogame-entranced European
nation: There are approximately
1 00,000 VIC-20s (Commodore has al-
ways sold well in Europe, even when it
was failing in the U.S. a few years
back), 100,000 Intellivisions and the
previously-mentioned 450,000 Atari
2600s.

As of this writing, not one German
gamer has a ColecoVision wired to his
TV. And you think you've got it rough.
Ha!

A major fly in the arcading ointment
"over there" is the format for Euro-
pean television broadcasting. Since TV
viewing hours begin at 5 p.m. and end
at 1 a.m., family members can be
found fighting for either the switch
box or channel changer in a true
death struggle for video supremacy.
Videogames are cutting into the typi-
cal European family's long-established
pattern of enjoying purely passive en-
tertainment at certain, proscribed
periods.

What do German, French, Italian, or
Scandanavian arcaders who want to
know what's going on do? Well, one
beacon in the mirk has been the licens-
ing of Electronic Games magazine in
several European markets by a variety
of publishers.

France, for example, has Tilt!, an
interesting look at the gaming scene in
that country. Germany, however, has
what is probably the finest European
gaming publication, Tele-Match.

STRATEGIE

UNDTAKTIK

VonFUANKTETROja

This is Germany's "Strategy Session".

Tele-Match has modelled its struc-
ture very closely on EG's modular
approach, using as many translated
articles as fits that market place's
readership, and gobs of the same
gorgeous artwork EG readers enjoy
each month. T-M is published month-
ly and presently uses about 10 full-
time staff writers.

The differences between EG and its
European cousins are often more en-
lightening than the similarities. Some
use rather risque pin-ups, ads are
styled for the native culture and Tele-
Match finds that cartoon characters
work better than the established
videogame characters such as Pac-
Man and Q'Bert.

Even more licensing deals will be
announced soon. It is not impossible
that before long EG will be appearing
in every language known to man. Or,
as we like to say: wherever e" '
gaming goes, can
EG be far behind? G

€hlfl

own to man. ur,
erever electronic A

Europe

Joins

the

Game

World

•-

COMPUTER GRininc

50 ■ SOFTWARE SHOWCASE
58 ■ ARTICLES OF WAR

62 ■ PASSPORT TO ADVENTURE

63 ■ THINK TANK

64 ■ ELECTRONIC PRESSBOX

SOFTWARE

SHOWCASE

ORC ATTACK

Thorn EMU Atari/cartridge

Some highly unusual mechanics
spice this contest in which the player
must defend the ramparts of a castle
against a host of ravening ores and
their various supernatural allies. The
besieging force has decided to go all-
out in its assault, and the harried de-
fender will have to use the three main
weapons — rocks, swords and burn-
ing oil — quickly and effectively to
keep the subhuman warriors from rac-
ing up their scaling ladders to over-
whelm the imposing stone fortress
that fills the entire play screen.

The well-drawn defender zips back
and forth across the top of the screen
on the battlements in response to the
joystick. He moves at a fairly rapid
pace, however, so that it is necessary
to press and hold the action button to
slow him down enough to make accu-
rate aiming of missiles directed at the
s possible. Before the player's on-
screen character can do anythir
deter the advancing army, he must g
a weapon by visiting the caches lo-
cated at the extreme left and right

edges of the display. Once armed with
a rock — the usual weapon — he can
drop it on the ladder-climbing ores be-
low, slowing their progress up the
wall. Since there are many ores and
only one defender, the player must
rush hither and yon, making split-
second strategic decisions on the fly
and not forgetting to watch out for
sneaky ninja ores which don't even
need ladders to climb the wall.

If the ores do get a ladder built that
carries one to the battlements, the
program automatically gives the de-
fender a sword instead of a rock the
next time he rearms. As the ore tries to
stab the defender with a dagger, the
player's man can swipe at the loath-
some creature with the swod. Pulling
the handle straight toward the arcader

causes the defender to make an espe-
cially strong cut with the blade. Too
many of these tiring strokes weaken
your man, so they must be used with
some restraint.

The burning oil is a clever device
used to end each wave of attack.
When an oil flash appears, dropping it
on the attackers causes them to burn
up entirely, clearing the way for
another assault at a more challenging
level of difficulty. And when even
those crossbow-firing savages fail to
strike terror in the player's heart, look
out for the spell-casting wizard, repul-
sive stone warts, and the demon trolls
which appear in a tower of flame.

Ore Attack's greatest strengths are
its clever graphics, distinctive play-
action and entertaining premise. It can
also be a tiring game, one that most
home arcaders will not want to test
their mettle against too many times in
a row. It's great fun to play as a
change-of-pace from other, more
standard action games, though, and
strongly recommended to Atari com-
puter-owners for that reason.

(Steve Davidson)

TROAAPERS

Avant-Carde Creations/ Apple ll/48Kdiik
I Pity poor Arnold Strump. Life is, at
| best, a dog-eat-dog affair for the man
from the animal pound, and now he's
got a knee-shaking problem in Trom-
pers. Mr. Strump's shortwave radio
hobby has gotten out of hand; his gear
: is sending out an intergalactic wel-
come that has residents of the planet
Tromp streaming toward our little
I world.

1 The computerist uses the joystick to
I move Arnold Strump (rendered in
clean linework) back and forth across
the bottom of the screen. One-crea-
ture flying saucers enter the display
near the upper left corner and skim
across the screen to leave by the oppo-
I site edge. At some point, the cute little
I tromper inside will abandon ship and

IWASA

MIDWESTERN YOUTH TELLS

BROUGHT HIM BACK
FROM A LIVING DEATH.

"IT GOT SO I COULDN'T LET GO," con-
fesses John Carlson of Hickory Falls, Iowa.
"My hands were welded to my joystick 24 hours
a day. Blisters covered both my thumbs, my
wrists ached, my eyes throbbed . . ." It had
started as mindless play for young Johnny. But
now it was turning his

■ mind to green jelly.
:i mF Finally, concerned
\ ••♦^'k IB relatives decided to
MHSfqdB ^P seek help. Johnny
JT W ^ H remembers: "I'd
passed out after 63
million points— I
forget which game.
When I came to, I
saw a personal com-
puter in my room,
with an Infocom game in the disk drive. I just
sat there, numb, staring at the words on the
screen."

Then— the revelation. "There was like this
voice inside the computer, talking to my imagi-
nation. Suddenly, I was inside the story. I'd
never experienced anything like it— challenging
puzzles, realistic people, true dangers. Infocom
had plugged into my mind, and shot me into a
whole new dimension."

"Sure, I still play video games. But now I
know there's more to life than joysticks."

Johnny's folks agree. "We've got our boy
back," says Mrs. Carlson, "thanks to Infocom."
We can't save all the Johnnies. But many can
still be reached through the remarkable prose of
such Infocom games as ZORK* DEADLINE, 1 "
The WITNESS,™' INFIDEL™ PLANET-
FALL 1 ;" and ENCHANTER.™' So please-
before its too late— step up to Infocom. All
words. No pictures. The secret regions of your
mind are beckoning. A new dimension is in
there waiting for you.

(For more information on Infocom games,
contact: Infocom, Inc., P.O. Box 85;>. Garden
City, NY 11530.)

inFocom

The next dimension.

try to land on the surface. Arnold must
catch these space visitors with his net,
either on the fly or after one or more
bounces.

The trompers arrive in waves of in-
creasing .size, first three, then five,
seven and nine. Wiping out an entire
wave earns the player an extra life
up to a maximum of nine. Getting
through a complete round — that
would mean catching a total of 24
creatures — starts a fresh series-

This isn't a very challenging game,

even when person-holes are added
(on level #3). It's hard to see how
Trompers could hold many terrors for
electronic gamers weaned on the likes
of Repton and Shamus. On the other
hand, its undeniable charm and
straightforward simplicity make
Trompers one of the best kideo disks
on the market. It's too bad that Avant-
Garde's packaging, further undercut
by skimpy documentation, doesn't call
this aspect of the game to the atten-
tion of prospective buyers. While
adults are apt to find Trompers slightly
tricky rather than genuinely mind-
stretching, it appears to be a psycho-
logically sound choice as a vehicle for
introducing youngsters to the pleasure
of home arcading.

Pre-teeners will like the theme with
its humorous overtones, and their
folks will probably appreciate the de-
emphasis on violence and shooting,
Give the publisher a gold star for
addressing the needs of the youngest
gamers, with a couple of demerits for
not making sure the gaming public
would get the message.

(Arnie Katz)

ARCHON

Electronic Arts/Atari/48K disk

The forces of Light and Darkness
square off in mortal combat in a quest

campuTER GRminti

to control an ever-changing playfield
in this fascinating contest that borrows
elements from sorcery, mythology,
and chess.

The ultimate object of Archon is to
place a game icon (a character repre-
senting either the Dark or Light side)
on each of the five power points sym-
metrically placed on a checkerboard-
like playfield. The army of Light, under
the guidance of the wizened old

Izard, consists of knights, amazon
irchers, unicorns, valkyries, golems, a
phoenix, and a djinni. The Sorceress
commands the Dark Forces, an intimi-
dating crew made up of goblins, ban-
shees, trolls, manticores, basilisks, a
shapeshifter, and a dragon. Each side
is slightly different, but with equal
might.

The innate skills of the individual
"soldier" influences the way each icon
moves across the black, white, or gray
squares (banshees can fly over occu-
pied squares, while goblins are more
earth-bound). The particular charac-
ter's abilities influence how far it can
move, which direction it moves in, and
the sort of attack mode it uses when
challenged for the rights to a square.

Unlike chess, having the "domi-
nant" piece does not automatically
guarantee possession of a square. The
idea behind Archon is that even the
lowliest of character types can win a
battle, given a little luck and a lot of
skill. In this game, whenever one char-
acter challenges another for squatting
rights to a square, the territory in dis-
pute enlarges to encompass the entire
playing screen, and the two "game
pieces" pit their unique abilities
against each other in a fight to the
finish. The survivor keeps possession
of the square — for the time being,
anyway.

An example of the types of attack
modes the characters use is the evil,
wailing Banshee. To damage an
opponent, the spirit must get close
enough to catch her enemy in a pierc-
ing cloud of sound. The virtuous

Knights depend on theirtrusty swords,
while the unicorns hurl small missile
weapons.

An important factor influences the
actions of Light and Dark alike — the
ever-shifting color of the squares be-
neath the armies' feet. While some of
the black or white squares remain
fixed in theiroriginal shades, many key
squares cycle through hues of black,
white and gray in a predictable, fixed
pattern. The color of the square an
icon stands on influences the outcome
of any combat it engages in.

If a character stands on a square of
its own color (Dark on dark or Light on
light), the icon draws extra strength
from the territory and has a longer
lifeline in battle situations (the lifelines
of respective combatants are shown
at the sides of the screen during the
battle sequence; the longer the life-
line, the more injury a character can
sustain without dying). Characters
forced to do battle for a square of the
opposite hue have a distinct disadvan-
tage. Gray squares offer varying de-
grees of protection. The color-shifting
squares cycle slightly with each turn, a
strategic challenge considering that

ARCHON {ELECTRONIC ARTS)

three of the five power points are lo-
cated on unstable territory.

The Wizard and the Sorceress begin
each game standing on power points
that match their own color (well,
almost. . .the forces of Light are
actually yellow, while the Dark side is
blue). Each mage has the ability to cast
up to seven different spells, each
affecting the game in a different way.
For example, magic can be used to
"heal" a wounded icon, "revive" a
dead one, or "teleport" a character to
a different square. Each spell can be
used only once per game.

In its two-player variation, Archon is
one of the most satisfying, innovative,
mentally stimulating games available
for the Atari computer. Its one-player
option, which pits the gamer against a
computer opponent, is a bit too hare

for the average player, though. In this
option, the only way to win is to con-
vince the computer that you're an
idiot by making stupid moves at the
start of the game. Then, when it lets
down its defenses, go in for the kill. To
beat the computer, players have to
learn to shoot diagonally'.

Archon is a beautifully crafted game
that pleases both the mind and the
body. To win, both its strategy and its
action elements must be mastered.
The graphics and animation are good,
as are the sound effects that accom-
pany each character's movement.
And, as with all of Electronic Arts' re-
leases, it's attractively packaged in a
record album-box, with detailed, well-
written instructions. Chalk up another
winner for Electronic Arts — and
Freefall Associates.

(Trade Forman)

CLIPPER: AROUND THE
HORN IN 1850

PDI/ Atari /32K disk

Every so often a software manufac-
turer releases a new title that makes a
wave in the endless stream of look-
alike shoot-'em-ups and cute maze-
chases. Program Design, Inc., the
company that produced the Arcade
Award winner Moonbase lo, has done
just that with Clipper: Around the
Horn in 1850, its new offering for the
Atari computers. What makes Clipper
so noteworthy is its overall concept
and design — a narrated game simula-
tion with three screens that is not only
entertaining, but also an education in
sailing and its history.

At the outset of the program, the
gamer chooses one of 10 available I
19th Century clipper ships to captain
and sail from New York to San Francis-
co via Cape Horn. Because each vessel
has its own characteristics, the gamer
must outfit each voyage differently.
Even in the same ship, a different man-
ifest may be required because of fluc-
tuations in the cost of provisions and
the amount of money on hand in the
treasury.

The gamer outfits his clipper by en-
tering the number of crew members
he or she wishes to hire and the
amount of cargo and provisions the
ship intends to take on. All the in-
formation is entered using the joystick
and the fire button. (That's "user-
friendly".) Once the gamer has outfit-
ted the vessel, the race around the tip
of South America begins.

Don't get the idea, though, that it's
clear sailing.

Sail Around
Cape Horn, but
Watch out for
The Reefs, the

Icebergs, and
The Crew!

Two screens display the ship's log-
book and a map of the western hemi-
sphere. However, most of the time the
player will use the main screen, which
shows the bridge of the clipper and
provides four important readings.
Proper usage of these readings is
absolutely essential if the gamer
doesn't wish to run aground or get lost
at sea. (If either happens, a news clip-
ping relates the sighting of the ship-
wreck and the loss of all hands.) The
readings, from left to right, are: the
percentage of unfurled sail, the clip-
per's position in longitude and lati-
tude, the vessel's heading and speed,
and the wind's direction and speed.

CLIPPER (PDI)

Fortunately for us landlubbers, the
game designer, John Bayes, provides a
build-it-yourself compass with the
program .

Perhaps not so fortunately, he has
also filled the oceans with uncharted
reefs and maverick icebergs — oh, the
sound of splintering wood! In addition
to those dangers, the crew may be-
come ill or decide to mutiny. If they do
mutiny, the captain has the option of
putting some or all of them in chains.
There are also other dangers calcu-
lated to convince gamers that sailing
the Seven Seas is a little tougher than
floating a rubber ducky in the bathtub.

As if the program itself weren't
enough to satisfy most gamers, PDI
added an optional voice cassette to
the simulation. If the gamer elects to
use it, it entertains with traditional sea

chanties, gives advice from an ex-cap-
tain, and threatens with a crusty
pirate.

All in all, Clipper is an entertaining
simulation . But don 't allow the lapping
waves to dull your judgement be-
cause that sound and the sound of
seagulls usually means there's a reef
right ahead. Hard to port! Lower that
sail!

(Vincent Puglia)

TUBEWAY

Datamost/ Apple II/48K disk

It isn't always easy to fathom the
actions of the governments of Earth's
nation states, so it isn't altogether sur-
prising that aliens from another uni-
verse go about things in a somewhat
different fashion than we do. As the
pilot of a space scout, you encounter
hard evidence of the truth of this
observation in the form of the Tube-
way, a vast construction hanging in
the void. Some force locks your craft
to the rim of the vast geometric form
as an invasion fleet swarms out of the
hyperspace warp located at its center.

Although this perimeter shooting
game is playable with keyboard con-
trols, it reaches its true potential when
the gamer employs a paddle. Use the
knob to make your shooter skim along
the edge of each of 32 progressively
more difficult geometric playfields.
You can shoot at the four different
types of aliens by hitting the paddle's
action button. Needless to say, they're
firing back, too. There is also a fierce
creature known only as the Destroyer
which inhabits the square cage found
in the lower left-hand corner of the
display. When the shortening vertical
line on the right side of the screen
disappears, the Destroyer breaks out
of its cage and sails over to the Tube-
way. The player's shooter is complete-
ly vulnerable to the Destroyer and
must avoid all physical contact with
the ameboid attacker.

The only defense against the De-
stroyer — and the only way of elim-
inating attacking aliens who man-
age to gain a perch on the tubeway's
rim — is to take advantage of the
Super Zapper. When the timing line
indicates that it is active, the Super
Zapper starts to travel around the
tubeway, one small segment at a time.
If the player fires the shooter when it is
on top of the lit segment, everything
on the rim, including the Destroyer,
goes poof! In fact, one type of attack-
er, dubbed the "Five", is worth 500
points when kayo'd by the Super Zap-

Award-Winning Hits for your Commodore

■Bimyrr ma \i ' - > ■, ' i :

with a Free Software Bonus.

per, but only five points if eliminated
by a blast from the shooter.

When you totally eliminate all the
aliens on one screen, a new geometric
figure takes its place. The gamer starts
with a supply of three shooters and
receives a reinforcement every time he
tallies 20,000 points. Attaining this
plateau also sets off some visual
pyrotechnics on the screen. David
Arthur Van Brink, creator of this
magnificent target contest, went a bit
overboard here, possibly in reaction to
the scant notice most other games
take of such mighty achievements.
The graphic fireworks play such tricks
with the screen that it is very, very
hard to concentrate on the business at
hand — blasting aliens. More than one
home arcader will immediately lose
that hard-won extra ship.

Completing a playfield without loss
of a shooter earns a bonus. It's worth
500 on the first level, 1 ,000 points on

TOBEWAY (DATAMOST)

the second, ana then rises by incre-
ments of 500 points until it tops out at
2,000.

The similarities between Tubeway
and Atari's coin-op Tempest are ob-
vious and undeniable. Yet Tubeway is
not a mere clone of the quarter-
snatcher. For instance, the attackers
do not just advance toward the rim up
the narrow channels, they actually ro-
tate from pathway to pathway during
flight, keeping the situation from get-
ting too predictable. The presence of
the Destroyer and Super Zapper also
add an extra dimension to play, and
put a great premium on finishing off
each playfield as rapidly as possible.
Think of Tubeway as being in the same
gaming genre as Tempest rather than
an outright copy and you'll have the
general idea.

The graphics are surprisingly good,
especially in light of the limitations of

COMPUTER GRminG

rasterscan television technology. (Re-
member, Atari used a vector graphics
monitor with Tempest.) Each field
flashes a rainbow of colors when it first
appears, but it then reverts to a pur-
plish monochrome. Well, at least the
one-color design is a tad easier on the
eyes during the heat of play, which
can get mighty frenetic once you've
conquered the first few, relatively
easy, levels of play.

Tubeway is a fine game that pre-
sents a play mechanic that has not
been used much in the videogame and
computer game arenas as of yet. It is
therefore bound to be of particularly
great interest to fans of action arcade
programs who want to test their abili-
ties is an unusal setting. Highly rec-
ommended.

(Arnie Katz)

SAMMY LIGHTFOOT

Sierra On-Line/ Apple II/48K disk

Before jaded members of the joy-
stick jury start groaning about
"another (expletive deleted) climbing
game", it must be said that Sammy
Lightfoot is both beautifully program-
med (by Warren Schwader) and sur-
prisingly different from the other
climbing and jumping extravaganzas
that have caught game-dom's fancy
over the last 18 months.

Sammy Lightfoot is a circus acrobat
whom the player must guide through
a three-screen obstacle course using

the joystick. There are 12 skill levels for
each scenario. If Sammy survives the
gauntlet with a whole skin, the pro-
gram automatically jumps to the next
hardest setting. Displaying a touch of
subtlety that's missing from too many
disks these days, Schwader increases
the challenge at each level without
falling back on the simple expedient of
just upping the speed of events. In
Sammy Lightfoot, most of the added
difficulty comes from additional nui-
sance obstacles and added complica-
tions in some of the tasks the acrobat
must perform in order to pass his
audition.

Holding down the action button lets
Sammy bounce higher and higher on
the trampolines in the first scenario.
Similarly, holding down the button
makes him grab one of the trapezes
which are so useful for getting over
chasms between the platforms that
are too wide for Sammy to jump.

(2ND SCREEN)

Swinging up to the platform where
a pumpkin in sunglasses sits waiting
ends the first scenario and sends Sam-
my on to the next. This time, he must
run under a row of plungers while
making sure to avoid falling by step-
ping on one of the disappearing plat-
forms found below when it briefly
winks out of existence. After crossing
back by leaping from the top of one
plungerto the next, Sammy steps onto
a magic carpet for yet another cross-
screen trip. Staying on the carpet is
easy at skill level one, but its flightpath
takes some strange dips and turns
when the going gets tougher.

Scenario three suffers slightly from
its similarity to the second stanza. This
time, the on-screen character must
avoid hammers and puff balls, ride the
elevator up the left side of the display
and then use the trapeze to cross a
flaming pit to land on a platform
tenanted by another pumpkin in
shades.

The graphics, done with the aid of
Courtney Smith, are irresistibly charm-
ing. The playfields have very little

FIRST, THE GOOD NEWS.

■W

[**

First Star Has4#PNew Games.

Fernando Herrera, the designer of ASTRO CHASE (1984 Superior graphics, real-time animations™, multiple screens,

Science Fiction / Fantasy Computer Game of the Year* ) and intermissions, arcade-quality sound, innovative gaming,

our design team again define "State of the Art."

challenge and excitement— we deliver it all!

THE BAD NEWS? You cant play them all at once.

r mm

L -

Ik]

BOING! BRISTLES™ FLIP and FLOP™ PANIC BUTTON

m»m AtirlVCS 2600 - Atari Home Computers - Commodore by Adam Bellin tx. Commodore Computers

"Electronic Games Magazine 1984 Game Of The Tear Award

background detail, but the significant
objects are all well-drawn in a thin-
line, cartoony style, that goes well
with the circus atmosphere. Still, a few
more trimmings might've helped rein-
force the "Big Top" atmosphere.

The instructions are a definite weak
point, and that's a bit unusual for an
On-Line disk. Oh, you can get a fair
idea of the mechanics of play, but the
rules don't really set much of a goal for
the player. (It turns out that there's no
grand design for Sammy beyond just
getting through the audition in one
piece). For instance, the countdown
bonus clock is mentioned, but the au-
thor of the rules folder doesn't really
explain how difficulty adjustments
affect the timing. This bit of know-
ledge is not, admittedly, vital, but it's
something most players like to know.

This vagueness is particularly la-
mentable because Sammy Lightfoot
sports a large roster of pre-game
options. At the push of the "return"
key, you can choose the number of
players (one or two), set the type of
control {keyboard or stick) for each
individually, turn the sound effects
and opening tunes off and on, pick
skill levels {one-six are selectable) for
each participant and reset high scores.
Once adjusted, these options can be
saved for future reuse by pressing the
"return" key at the appropriate time.

Of course, we play the game, not
the rulebook. And Sammy Lightfoot is
a pleasant, if somewhat lightweight,

are randomly firing cannons which
travel up and down the various levels
but do not jump across a hole created
by the character.

The third screen includes up and
down elevators, unconnected girders
and the usual complement of cannons
and cannonballs.

In the last two screens, hammers are
provided so that the gamer can bop a
cannon to pieces.

There are a few nice touches in the
programming: the "Johnny Comes
Marching Home" theme song, the
function button that shuts it off, the
joystick-controlled screen level
option, the pause option, and the cute

campuTERGHminG

game. A fully professional job of
code-juggling by Warren Schwader
has produced a cute change-of-pace
contest.

(Amie Katz)

CANNONBALL BLITZ

Sierra On-Line/VIC-20/cartridge

This three-screen climbing game jm ,. g

has the Revolutionary War as its motif. ^H " 1_ _

But, the theme has very little to do I I li

with the graphics and nothing at all to E ^^ I V I 1

do with the play-mechanic. Cannon- I Wm I ' j J

ball Blitz — with some major m- jptHJU l d* £ I

provements — could have just as easi- BBSI M flj 1 I

ly been calied Donkey Kong or ^5JB ' P-^ "
Jumpman.

In the first screen, the gamer's char- cannonball blitz (sierra on-une)
acter must climb a hill (which more (but extremely bare) graphics. (The
than anything resembles a zigzag only color on-screen is used for the
girder construct) in order to capture enemy and his flag. Everything else is
the enemy's glag. Along his path are white!) However, it seems to this re-
trap doors, "catapults" (seesaws or viewer that Sierra On-Line could have
teetertotters to the rest of the world) better spent its time developing a
and rolling cannonballs. There is also a game closer to the state of the art, or
balloon to help the player skip a level, (even better) a game that would have

The object of the second screen is to added something new to computer

bring the structure down on the Red- gaming.

coat by walking over the trap doors. Until someone produces a Don-
When all of the doors have been key Kong or a Jumpman for the VIC,
turned into holes, the girder structure Cannonball Blitz is the way to go.
collapses. Adding some excitement (Vincent Puglia)

ARTICLES

OF WAR

DELTA SQUADRON

Nexa/Appk II/64K disk

Picture a huge, terrifying space sta-
tion about the size of a small moon.
The outside of the station is studded
with laser turrets and guarded by
swarms of small — but deadly —
fighters.

The station itself is the ultimate
expression of a decadent galactic
empire's planet-busting powers. If left

-By NEIL SHAPIRO

alone, this evil empire will extend its
control throughout the galaxy. An
alliance of rebellious worlds is making
one final effort to destroy the station
by taking advantage of its one
weakness.

These rebel ships must fly down a
narrow trench-shaped depression in
the station's exterior in order to drop
their photon bombs directly atop one
small, almost untargetable main pow-

We Bring Atari 400/800
Sports Games Alive.

WE BRING SPORTS ALIVE.

This Christmas,

Atari and Commodore owners

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Our Graphics Will Have You Seeing ^Mfe^l out what planet you'r

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UESDAY MORNING

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Get more out of your Commodore.

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ANALYSIS OF

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CAUTION:THE FIRST
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OW YOU AWAY.

Extend your survival
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Po iNTMEcsreR-

FICTION-FANTASY

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sarSE-SsSi

ACTION CAME

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Do you hove what
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race in the Grand Prix? Or catch

about trying the Rubik's Cube?
Chills and challenges await you in
Hayden's world of thrilling ad-
ventures, exciting chases, fast-

V J

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Contenders

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Full text of "Electronic Games - Volume 02 Number 11 (1984-01)(Reese Communications)(US)"

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